I doubt they were bought from the factory, since the factory quit making them in either late 56 or early 57.
There were provisions to rent out our vehicles under the right conditions.... I suspect the visiting Brits may have worked out a deal. The British plates almost make it look more like a purchase, although just as likely the plates may have been attached to either as a control number for logistical or maintenance purposes, or as in indication of insurance for use on Canadian roads.
There were a lot of trucks held at various bases back then for war stock. We bought trucks to the level needed for the 1950s cold war, and as the military shrunk in the 70s, some fleets were partially reduced in size and at the same time portions of the fleets were put into logistics stock. So it was very possible that if the British government requested trucks (purchase or rent) then something could have been arranged.
Below I will talk about the GATES, which I am more familiar about, and who were in a similar situation as the British in Alberta.
I do know that the Germans were running a small fleet (4 I believe) of Canadian pattern MLVWs here in Shilo as range fire trucks. But it turned out they were not from the Canadian run of trucks, but rather were ordered from Bombardier in 1984 for that purpose. They were surplussed out in the early 90s when the MLVW was found to be too light for firefighting duties, both by the Germans and by the Canadians. And I mentioned in another thread that the Germans ran some North American vehicles here. Much easier to get spare parts for a MCI bus than to be having to special order all your parts for a Mercedes model. We often do the same thing when we are in other countries. Canada was using Bedfords in Cypress, and I remember seeing two Land Rovers with Canadian license plates in Bosnia. And the list of foreign commercial pattern vehicles we used in (and certain elements occasionally out of) Kandahar Airfield was quite lengthy.
We used to have the Germans into our shop here in Shilo all the time scrounging parts for their M109s or M113s, because the time to order them from Germany, or to go through the proper chains to get them from Canada, were ridiculously time consuming.
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