[Mike Cecil]

No Mike, not booty: cross allocation from NZ (and Aust) to advance elements of Brit Forces in preparation for the invasion of Japan. Just because the war ended in the Pacific, didn't mean that preparatory work had not commenced and was well underway for the proposed invasion.

There are some surviving records of Australian vehicles being allocated in this way, and I strongly suspect the C8AXs from NZ are in the same 'boat'. Once it was time to go home, they were disposed of locally.

There were also Brit elements stationed in Australia during the war, mostly SIGINT and liaison staffs of various types, (such as ordnance supply), and fleet maintenance staff from the RN. It is a generally unknown part of the war effort that Australia received - and sent -large quantities of materiel to various Commonwealth countries under a carefully controlled mutual supply scheme - field guns and slouch hats to India, jungle green shirts and trousers from India - to name just a couple of small examples. To facilitate these transfers, the various countries had staff here, and we had staff there. All required motor transport in various forms.

As for the RAN jeep, I am yet to find records of any jeeps being directly allocated to the RAN during WW2, but have found records of jeeps being allocated locally to RAN from Army holdings, mostly 'offshore', as this one appears to be. It is not until mid-1945 that a quantity of jeeps go to the RAN, mainly as ship's transport (ie carried aboard for shore transport in port) and are allocated registration numbers in the RAN block. With Army in particular screaming for more jeeps right up until the end of hostilities, it is perhaps not surprising that a valuable tactical truck in short supply would not be directly allocated to the RAN during the war.

Mike C