Thread: C8AX Tac Sign
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Old 11-10-09, 04:29
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Tony Smith Tony Smith is offline
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Location: Lithgow, NSW, Australia
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The Aust Army never had C8AX vehicles, so there would be no ARN. The ones that appear in Aust were bought in a post-war surplus auction in the Solomons, so it is unclear how later Aussie green was applied as a top coat, unless it was done at some later time by a "Restorer". WW2 Khaki Green No 3 (the original paint finish) is not too dissimilar to Vietnam era Aussie Olive Drab, just a little darker.

Richard's comment re RN is interesting as Royal Navy is one option I had considered, but gave little thought to as the South Pacific zone saw little action by the RN. It was controlled by the USN under Admiral Halsey, and all port facilities would have beeen US, except those in New Zealand. I don't see what Royal Navy presence would have been in NZ or the South Pacific after April 43 to acquire a C8AX.

However, that said, Mike Kelly said in this post #55 :
"During the later stages of the Pacific war, the RN sent out aircraft carriers and other vessels to Australia , places like Sydney were buzzing with RN units. They were building up for the expected invasion of the Japanese mainland. I do know of a restored C8AX that was marked with RN on the doors. The owner attempted to trace its history through RN archives, but came up with nothing.

Maybe these vehicles were on loan or purchased even .Or maybe the RN officially or unofficially pilfered a few vehicles from the islands as deck cargo.
We will never know the full story. Many vehicles changed ownership with a few bottles of booze as payment."
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