Ian, A few thoughts on what you have discovered.
(1) 79 would appear to be the Unit Sign and because it is 'overpainted' with the Formation sign, appears to be earlier than when it served with 1 Aust Cav/1 Aust Motor/3rd Aust Armd. Division (the greyhound/boomerang formation sign). A variety of units used this number early in the war (both Brit and Aust) , including a number of AIF units that served in the Middle East.
(2) The square and 14 'sub-unit tactical sign' is as earlier explained. It is on the door and on the front right guard.
(3) the 163XX and 4XXX MIGHT - just MIGHT -be two different unit embarkation serial codes, also known as the War Office Unit Serial. What size are the numbers? 2 inch high? IF 1.5 to 2 inches high, I would hazard a guess that the 163XX is the identity of a British Unit (the lowest numbered Aust units appear to start at 2XXXX) and possibly the 4XXX might have another figure, as 4xxxx, which would correspond with a fair number of Australian units. Are there the remains of any horizontal coloured bars of paint above or below these numbers?
It is a bit difficult to decipher what you are seeing and hence, what it actually means, so the above are possibilities only. What is evident is that this (and Johns) are some of the vehicles used by the Australian Army supplied from British stocks, (probably in the Middle East), that were never transferred to the Aust registration scheme when they arrived in Australia. There were hundreds like this, though I've not come across WOTs in any quantity.
Mike C
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