Australian Ingenuity

[Tim Lovelock]

Ha ha, I love the responses.
What I know.
Built in the early 1950's at Essendon Airport by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) workshops (obviously) as an airport fire appliance.
Apparently based on a 'White' truck chassis.
Keith you are quite correct the 'circular' saw at the front was intended to cut a hole in the aircraft fuselage allowing the occupants to escape and the aspestos curtains intended to protect occupants from any radiant heat.
Apparently the seat for the monitor operator was an old steel tractor seat.
The shielding is quite likely aluminium.
The kicker was that during trials the tyres caught fire and didn't progress beyond this single vehicle.
I've often wondered if it was a 'white' chassis, what type of truck was it in a former life. Any ideas?
I've got some other images of early DCA fire appliances at Essendon and Moorabbin (the later where I was once stationed), with some old blitzes I'll post in the near future. I hope this was of interest though not strictly military, it is where you can trace their roots. Cheers Tim