Aust. One Ton trailer info. required

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

The Platypus.

Bob

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi again - to me it looks like some sort of shaft or pin. It has a five sided bolt head with corresponding facets running along its length but starting under the bolt head. It doesn't look like any weapon to me.

Bob

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Awful big ears Bob, and a thinner tail?
Rich.

[Mike Cecil]

Bob,

Have to agree with Richard and Dianna on this one, Bob. It's like no Platypus I've ever seen. But just as a test, I showed the image to my wildlife-artist wife, and asked 'what Australian animal do you think that might be?' and her immediate reaction was 'Bilby: only long-eared, long tailed Aussie animal it could be'.

As for the 'bolt', well, the trailer belonged to the Q-Troop (supply troop) of 16 Air Defence Regiment, who exercised regularly at Woomera and Cultana, so an RBS70 missile pod slung over the shoulder of whatever animal it is is appropriate, and the Bilby idea fits with their likely encounters with Bilby's in their training areas.

'Each State had their own animal and Bilbys did not feature'? I agree that the Bilby did not feature, but can't agree that the official Divisional Formation signs from WW2 bear any relationship to 'states' or are 'state based'.

Besides, as Dianna said, this is post war. We see a plethora of different emblems adopted by units: the pig for 5RAR, the Black Leopard for 1st Armd Regt (now a lion), the eagle by 2Cav, Scorpion by 3Cav (carried through to 3/4Cav) and the strutting rooster for 21 Construction Sqn, to name just a few (others).

Mike C

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Spent some time on the AWM site last night, looking for period pics of one ton trailers, found only 1 (Vietnam), did find 2 of the RBS70 and crew on ship. I never seem to have much luck with searching this database, no matter how general I make the terms. (Bit like the 4 photos of Australian Army Humber One Tons, that are British Austins).
Surely the archive is more extensive than it seems?
Rich.

[Mike Cecil]

Nope, not really.

What ya see is mostly what they got....

Mike C

[Mike Cecil]

Richard,

If you identify a mistake in a caption, send the details to the Photo Film and sound section general email address (available on the website) for the duty curator to investigate and, if verified, correct. Your email must include the image number, existing caption or part, and your suggested correction.

Regards

Mike C