Lang,
I'm not going to hazard a guess at the 'how or when': I'm only relating what I have found - and not found - in the surviving CDC disposal records.
As for the Rabaul CDC auction, a look at the actual catalogue list would answer your question, if a catalogue can be found. But I would not be surprised about that number being left by Australian forces - Army, Navy & Air Force - in the greater Rabaul area, and concentrated there for the purposes of disposal. For example, 1 Aust Corps, in February 1945, listed 6,005 vehicles on charge (they were in the SWPA). I'd have to go hunting to find what the allocation to a Division equipped for jungle operations would be, but 11th Aust Div at Rabaul would have had a sizable number of vehicles on hand at wars end, let alone the RAAF and RAN contingents in the Rabaul area as well.
I've a number of pieces of correspondence relating to the CDC disposal of vehicles in various locations throughout the SW Pacific/New Guinea areas, and again, the jeeps, trucks etc listed are all LL items with Australian registration numbers, ex-Australian military forces, and not US military equipment ex-US forces with US registrations.
Mike
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