As Alex indicated on the FB group, this is a1940 machine - produced under contract C6653 and delivered towards the end of August. The odd steel pannier toolboxes were first introduced with this contract, although not included in the Spare Parts List - They appeared in the following list but were discontinued half way through.
They seem to have been developed to deal with the ever-lengthening list of Tools and Equipment to scale that together with padlock and chain were simply too much for the slightly enlarged version of the pre-war civilian toolbox.
By early 1941, the War Office had dropped its objection to the carriage of passengers and these boxes were not compatible with pillion equipment. By the end of the year, the well-known canvas panniers and folding frames were being fitted.
They were quite strongly mounted :-)
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