Dave,
Ref your Rear Axle tag from post 36:
It appears that the wide variety of "major assemblies" being stored in Ordnance Depots was cause for confusion by 1944.
The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers were evidently tasked to produce identification manuals to aid personnel when attempting to determine the correct application for major assemblies (ie: Engines, rear axles, front axles, transmissions, transfer cases, and steering gear).
The two manuals that I have seen are GM Major Assemblies, and Ford Major Assemblies. They include images or drawings which point out the major identification features, the locations of any cast or stamped markings which will aid in identification (ie: gear ratio), and also have data sheets which list all of the components to assist technicians if they needed to convert the major assembly that they had on hand to fit a different vehicle than it was originally intended for.
It appears that at about the same time, the manufacturers were instructed to affix metal tags (such as your example) with the part number of the major assembly. I presume this was seen as a more durable form of marking than any other methods that had been previously employed.
I believe that a few examples of this type of tag have been discussed previously on this forum. An example that comes to mind was an image of a Windsor Carrier engine bearing one of these metal tags that was found in a CMP.
Perhaps someone with easy access to a CMA-02 or FMA-01 can post an image where these tags are explained.
Colin
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