C8AX Tac Sign

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Ausmick

I started to lightly sand off the three layers of fire engine red from the little C8AX I have for a project trying to find some unit signs ....
To my suprise, I was looking for a NZ Kiwi 3rd Division sign, so sanded some more. I found the white Kiwi Bird on the left cowl, but on the right Cowl I sanded up a tac Sign:
102
This is on a black brackground, and the truck was now a dark green. I did a search on it and came up with, to my suprise, NZEF 102VDTC being the 102 mobile VD Treatment centre!. Does anyone know if this is right? (and hold back the jokes ...... I have already read history about the 102VDTC attached to the NZ 2nd Div Italy.)

Oh, if only it were true!

While the 102 Mobile VD Treatment Centre was indeed a part of the NZ 2nd Div and served in Italy, "102" would not have featured on the Unit identifier sign. The intention of Tac signs is to provide some level of identity security. As an example, the number 102 was allocated to the 125 Light Anti-Aircraft Battery in the NZ 1st Div (which remained in NZ). And as you have pointed out, the white Kiwi was the Formation Sign for the 3rd NZ Div which only served in the Pacific. Whatever VD treatment unit may have been part of the 3rd Div (if at all!), it could not have been 102 VDTC as they were in Italy. If this truck really did belong to 102VDTC, it would have borne the white Silver Fern of NZ 2 Div. (My understanding is that no NZ C8AXs served in Italy.)

In trying to identify the actual unit this truck belonged to, I have run into some confusion. The NZ 3rd Div served in the South Pacific Zone (which included the Solomon Islands where it is accepted that the bulk of Australian C8AXs were sourced from a post-war surplus auction). They were commanded (and supported) by a Corps sized command structure, 2 NZEF-(IP), the 2nd NZ Expeditionary Force In the Pacific which was also in the South Pacific zone, but stationed on New Caledonia. The Formation sign for 3 NZ Div was a white Kiwi on a black background, while the sign for 2NZEF-(IP) was a black Kiwi on a white background. There was no 3 Div unit allocated "102", while in 2 NZEF-IP "102" was allocated to the following units:

Base Camp Reception Hospital and Medical Training Depot
No1 Camp Dental Hospital (on green background)
Base Reception Depot
Bourail camp
2 NZEF-IP Base
Base Provost Section
Detention Barracks
Movement control Sections 1 & 2
Base Pay office and Audit
AEWS (Army Education and Welfare Service)
Public Relation Section
Records Section
Graves registration
Base Postal Unit
Base Kit Store
Base Censor
Base Canteen
Patriotic Fund Board

As you can see, just about every type of Base Wallah was under the umbrella of this unit number, but not a Clap Doctor to be seen. I've mentioned the Dental Hospital as being on a green background, I wonder if that forms one of the layers of green you've noted?