Puckapunyal Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle

[Chris Ballance]

I'm trying to track down the history of the crawler on display at Puckapunyal modified as a beach armored recovery vehicle. I was wondering if someone might be able to help with some questions.

Several sites list the Puckapunyal vehicle listed as a D7, but Brian Braxter's book "Breakdown: A History of Recovery Vehicles in British Army" stated that only D8 crawlers were selected by REME for waterproof armored bodies. Is this vehicle an Australia conversion based on a D7? I know the Australians used M3s for BARV conversions, but did they also use D7 or D8s like the British beach recovery sections?

Also I have question about proper designation for these crawlers. Braxter's states the vehicles had armored bodies, but they are not called BARVs in his book, I guess to prevent confusion with the M4 BARVs. Instead the water proofed D8s are said to have been given the name of Porpoise. But I know that Porpoise was the name given to sleds used on the Normandy beaches?

Thanks in advance for any help with these questions, Chris.