General Bill Slims Truck / Caravan CMP

[warren brown]

Very interesting Rick - are there any F60H goers in Australia?

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by warren brown

Very interesting Rick - are there any F60H goers in Australia?

Goers Warren? I don't know. None of the three I have come across over many, many years was any more than a restoration project. One has a badly bent chassis and none the original body.
Regards Rick.

[Mike Cecil]

David,

Interested in your comment that 'The earliest known C.60X Demand for Australia was S/M 2510 so this seems to be the first-known replacement order. 60 were delivered by end 1942.'.

Information from Australian records shows that the C60X orders were not to replace vehicles, but for a specific project (and I'll paste from my C60X article):

'The Australian Army first placed an order for 120 of these chassis in CKD form during 1942 under Contract Demand (CD) E5298, as well as a single pilot model chassis. These were for use as the basis for the Australian heavy armoured car. The pilot model chassis was despatched from Canada in June 1942 to enable work on the hull for the armoured car to proceed while awaiting the despatch of the 120 chassis much later in the year. The correspondence and the original order refer to these 121 chassis as being for ‘armoured cars’, as do the weekly reports from General Motors-Holdens...'

and

'The Army order for 120 chassis was still pending in January 1943, with the first 48 chassis said to be en route from Canada. These were landed in Australia during February 1943. While the bulk of these were allocated to the Army order for breakdown trucks, the first allocation was actually to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), who received chassis numbers 8660M00001 to 8660M00011. The first breakdown trucks for the Army commenced at chassis number 8660M000013, and continued through to chassis number 8660M000120. The remainder of the Army’s order for 120 vehicles was made up of chassis in the 8660M68000 series. In total, the Army received 120 ‘Trucks Breakdown (Aust) No.4’, apparently delivered in small batches of 12 vehicles, except for two batches of 23 and 24 vehicles respectively, and the single pilot model vehicle. They were mostly delivered during 1943, and remained in service with Army workshop units during the post-war period. The last examples were disposed of in the mid-1960s.'

I am yet to locate any reference to F60H trucks in any configuration within the Australian Army's vehicle registers. I don't doubt Rick's post that some existed in Australia (he's found 3 over the years), but I'm yet to locate anything official relating to their importation and use (but still looking!!)

Mike C

[cliff]

Hi Mike,

where can we get a copy of your article on the C60X?

Thanks

[Mike Cecil]

Sure, Cliff: There is a version on Keefy's OldCMP site:

http://www.oldcmp.net/C60x_cecil.html#Anchor-3800

Enjoy!

Mike C

[cliff]

Thanks Mike I appreciate it.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Thanks for all the input. I am going to see if I can publish a repeat of my Vintage Roadscene magazine text here for you, relating to 6-wheel CMPs.

The chassis numbers that have been quoted save for the pilot lorry appear to be 1943 MODELS and may have been assembled as late as 1944. I know of just one Aussie C60X:

3866070143M ENGINE # 270 45,859 [MELBOURNE-ASSEMBLED] SM-PE-211-16 SEPTEMBER 11 1945

So was PE-211-16 the last contract then?

I have been mulling over the possibility that there were no direct Australian orders for F60H lorries and that any that ended up in Aussieland were ex-Middle East deliveries. I have no evidence yet of any Census Numbers or Demands/Contracts for F60H chassis for the British forces but I have a list of Ford Demands that are not assigned to any known models. It would require a check of index cards at Bovington Tank Museum, if such is possible these days, to check unless someone with a F60H can find a number on a plate in the cab and/or a parts list with any British Demand numbers on it. May I ask if there is any record of F60H lorries in the AWM census books please?