Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Cecil
You stated that: "Cab 12 FATs arrived in numbers on 6th and 7th Div convoys during early-mid '42. As brand new vehicles taken on charge in Alexandria immediately prior to sailing, they arrived as "types which have not previously been operated by A.I.F. Units", thus falling under the heading "Vehicles from Refugee Ships."
I cannot agree with your deductions for three main reasons.
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Actually Mike I make no deductions here, I'm simply trying to follow instructions, as staff at the time would have done. Let me rephrase:
Cab 12 FATs arrived in numbers on 6th and 7th Div convoys during early-mid '42. At that point in time, no A.I.F. unit had previously operated this type. Consequently under MECH 314 they were subject to the instruction: "A number of vehicles of various types which have not previously been operated by A.I.F. Units, have arrived from overseas. These vehicles will be allotted numbers from a special block which has been reserved for the purpose, viz.: 50201 - 51000 for wheeled vehicles"
This instruction is quite explicit. It is not open to interpretation. I cannot ignore it simply because the heading under which it appears seems inappropriate to me. That's not for me to decide. It's way above my pay grade. I'm paid to follow instructions, and a heading is not an instruction.
Another instruction I'm paid to follow is this one: "Certain vehicles have been brought to Australia bearing War Office numbers. These are to be retained as the Army Vehicle number. No AMF or AIF numbers will be allotted to these vehicles."
Again, I follow this instruction without question. Any vehicle with a War Office number stays that way. Except of course - "types which have not previously been operated by A.I.F. Units". These get a new number like all the others, because they're subject to the same instruction.
These instructions make sense to me Mike. MECH 314 is designed to identify vehicles foreign to Army use, because that's what matters in practical terms. It's not designed to identify refugee cargo per se, because that's of no concern to the user. It's just that when MECH 314 was hastily drafted in April '42 in response to vehicle arrivals, it was naturally assumed that the principal source of any vehicles foreign to AIF use would be refugee cargo - hence the heading "Vehicles from Refugee Ships", which then passes into the ledger.
Of course, if this analysis of MECH 314 is correct, it would mean all Cab 12 FAT arrivals during this period, including those on Stepsister convoys, would receive 50201 - 51000 numbers. Does the ledger reflect that Mike?