At the core of each brand's identity is the military specification of “General Purpose”. In 1941, American firm Willys-Overland was awarded a contract by the U.S. military to supply four-wheel drive reconnaissance vehicles for use in the European theatre. Some say that Soldiers shortened the “General Purpose” designation to “GP,” from which the easily pronounceable word “Jeep” was derived.\xa0 Meanwhile Marathon Watch Company officially began manufacturing timing instruments for infantry of the Allied Forces that same year. Marathon’s current field watch collection continues to follow the proper government designation of “General Purpose”, shortened by the brand and denoted as simply “GP”. \xa0 | 
