Restoration of Hull 731- Carrier, MG (Aust) Mortar Carrying

[Darrin Wright]

Howard, the story is not over yet, still have to camouflage paint it, apply correct markings for the 10/48 Inf Batt AIF for when they were in Darwin during 1942-43 and install the CES and what little 3" mortar equipment it have.

[motto (RIP)]

Darrin, I'm not specifically acquainted with the horn used on the UCs (as well as various Fraud vehicles of the time)but would have thought it to have adjustable vibrating points like most other horns.
If it is adjustable and you try to do so, the horn should be mounted on its correct bracket as they can behave quite differently if just hand held or lying on a bench.
Also, like any set of points, they must be clean.

Dave

[Mike Cecil]

Darrin,

10 Aust Infantry Battalion (The Adelaide Rifles) were linked to 48 Aust Infantry Battalion (The Torrens Regiment) as at 27 August 1942. Note the preservation of traditional State-based linkages in unit amalgamations.

The unit 'went AIF' sometime in 1943, to become 10/48 Aust Infantry Battalion (AIF), at which time they formed part of 23 Aust Infantry Brigade.

The unit markings should be:

Unit marking: 53 in white on a red square
Formation marking: buffalo over a boomerang (Northern Territory Force)

As an added touch, you could mark the crews kitbags or extraneous unit equipment etc with the USN:
Unit Serial Number marking: 46169 over a grid of three colour bars, top to bottom: buff/white/buff

Mike

[Darrin Wright]

Thanks Mike for the input, I have been doing research but my time & access to reference material is a bit limited, so really appreciate your information.

So that I can learn and be corrected, I was going to paint the following unit markings for the following reasons:

Unit marking brown square and white 82
Because the 10th & 48th Inf Batt belonged to the 3rd Inf Bde and their seniority within the 4th Inf Div. I understand it to be the most senior Brigade to be red, then 2nd Brigade to be green and then the less senior Brigade to be brown.
The 82 is a bit of a guess; however, I do have a pic form the AWM that shows (attached pic) what appears to be a 82 or 62 on the left guard. Also in the pic is the mortar base plate stowed on the RH guard in front of the driver.

Formation marking was the Echidna (white) over the Boomerang on a black square as that was the 4th Inf Div sign and they possible kept it while rotating through Darwin and the NT.


I purchased your book so that I could get the USN information for the 10/48 Inf Batt.
I thought of placing this info on the bulkhead above the gunners seat position in the front, this appears to be a common place on BGC for shipping and auction information.

On a side note, the BGC in the pic from the AWM has 33 painted on the side of it, this would be the vehicle call sign, I know of another BGC that is converted to the Mortar Carrying role that has 32 on the side, while my vehicle never had the large numerals painted on it, I think my call sign was M31.
This is painted white on a black rectangle with a coloured arrow pointed up ( I have no idea what the arrow means???).

Thoughts?

[Dale Jordan]

Hi Darrin . Can you tell us more about camo ? was it sprayed on in the factory or in the field ? What about below the panniers any light stone down there ? . Are you going to mask hard edge or free hand with faded over spray edges . . Dale

[Darrin Wright]

Dale,

When it left the factory it was painted in khaki #3, it was spray painted in a sand colour or possible light brown, then it was modified to a Mortar Carrier and brush painted with khaki green to give the final 2 tone camo pattern. This is evident from the levels of rust that have removed the paint, the pattern of the stowage boxes in the paint and the paint brush marks.

I will be utilising a good quality brush to paint the light stone onto the hull, this will cover approx. 50% of the hull, and I will follow the original pattern.
I took lots of pics of this before commencing work. Unsure if the suspension is painted, as that was the most weathered sections and hard to tell original colour.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Darrin,

OK, see your point, however this was my logic based upon formation and unit orders, and based upon your desire to represent 10/48 Infantry Battalion (AIF). This places the unit within a date range from March 1943 onwards (until the signage system changed in August 1944), as the unit did not 'go AIF' until about that date. (If you scratch the 'AIF' from the title, it date range could be Sept 42 onwards....)

10/48 Inf Bn arrived in NT as part of 3 Inf Bde in September 42, soon after amalgamation between 10 and 48 Inf Bns had taken place in August. Just before that, 10 Inf Bn had been in Sydney as part of 1 Inf Division prior to amalgamation with 48 Inf Bn - they are listed on 1 Div's ORBAT for 22 June 1942, with the unit sign 63 on a green background.

By end Dec 42, 10/48 Inf Bn had been transferred to 23 Aust Infantry Brigade, which was part of NT Force. (By then, 4 Div was in WA and well out of the picture).

The formation sign for NT Force/12 Aust Div came into existence in early 1943, and was promulgated by NT Force HQ as applying to all vehicles within the Force.

10/48 Inf Bn remained in NT Force until 1945, moving several times during that period: Nov 42 from 51.5 Mile to Fanny Bay; March 43 from Darwin Fortress to 37 Mile Camp; Nov 43 to Parap Camp; Dec 43 to 69 Mile Camp; March 44 back to Parap Camp, and May 44 to 67 Mile Camp, and so on.

So, the markings for 10/48 Inf Bn (AIF) have to post-date the Unit voting to 'go AIF', hence after March 1943. At that time they were (1) part of 23 Inf Bde and (2) with the higher formation of NT Force.

When the unit was posted to join 23 Inf Bde, they were allocated the unit sign of 53 on a red background, as per NT Force GS Instruction dated 15 December 1942. In early 1943, NT Force issued instructions that all vehs were to carry the buffalo over boomerang sign (and others were to be obliterated).

Hence, by March 1943 when the unit 'went AIF', the essential elements of the sign that come together for 10/48 Inf Bn were: 53 red background; Buffalo over boomerang.

As regards 82 on brown, this was indeed the marking for the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Brigade within an Infantry Division, but the actual application of same at unit level was also subject to a whole raft of other factors. And besides, 10/48 were, in theory, the 3rd Inf Bn within the 3rd Infantry Brigade within NT Force (23 Inf Bde had 7, 8, and 10/48 Bns), so in theory should have had the number '77' on the unit sign anyway. Why 53 on red? Hell, I don't know: some officer in higher HQ said so, that's why!

So, what you ultimately decide is up to you: it is your track, and what a truly magnificent job you are doing on it, too.

Regards

Mike

[Darrin Wright]

Mike, thank you for your comprehensive & detailed information on these unit markings.

Looking at my notes it would appear that I had the earlier unit signage correct (albeit with 1 mistake- the green & brown brigade colours mixed up). I did not have the info for when the unit transferred over to the AIF. So it makes sense and I am glad that I was on the right track going in the right direction.

I wish to make my vehicle correct as per the unit diary entry that I have, because that puts the vehicle in Darwin at that point in time. So will check the date of that entry and take on board your info and will most likely go with the info that you have provided.

EDIT:
Just checked my diary notes and they are from 17 Jan 43 to March 43 and detail that the unit had 21 BGC, 14 in MG configuration and 6 in Mortar configuration (with 1 MG BGC possibly as a command vehicle). Total of 7 BGC in Mortar Pl.
The notes, at this point in time, refer to the unit only as the 10/48th Aust Inf Batt- no AIF yet...

Once again, thank you very much.

[Darrin Wright]

I managed to trade some items for the last stowage box that I required (2nd from right box).
It did have a minor rusted out corner, so that was cut out, patches inserted and MIG welded back together.
Not my best welding; however, the patch work will never be seen due to its location.
Will be blasted early next week, and painted.

I think the 337 is an auction lot number, I did sand it down to see if there were any markings, but no.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

When the unit was posted to join 23 Inf Bde, they were allocated the unit sign of 53 on a red background, as per NT Force GS Instruction dated 15 December 1942.....Why 53 on red? Hell, I don't know: some officer in higher HQ said so, that's why!

I think we can make sense of it Mike. It seems there were two separate units formed from 10 and 48 Inf Bns:

1. E Coy, 48 Inf Bn joined 19 MG Regt in late '42, converting them to 19 MG Bn within 23 Inf Bde. Unit sign for MG Bn at that time was 53 on Red, which would seem to explain the December '42 instruction. Vehicle marking system changed in January '43, the new unit sign for NT Force MG Bn being 35 on Red. These Jan '43 instructions also introduced NT Force formation sign (Buffalo on Boomerang) which I assume would be present on all vehicles by March. The earliest appearance in photos I can actually date is 15 March.

2. 10/48 Inf Bn joined 3 Inf Bde in late '42, then joined 23 Inf Bde in March '43. As the last to arrive their unit sign should be 77 on Brown as you say.

Not sure what this means for Darrin's carrier but hopefully it adds to the picture. Info below reproduced from Australia's Forgotten Army Volume 2:

img209 - Copy.jpg

img210 - Copy.jpg

[Mike Cecil]

Tony, thank you! Now I see where I blundered!

As at 15 Dec 1942 10/48 Inf Bn were part of 3 Inf Bde (not 23 Inf Bde: my misinterpretation of the original instructions. To be fair, they are pretty badly presented.). 3 Inf Bde were the senior Brigade at that time, consisting of:
27 Inf Bn Veh sign 50
43 Inf Bn, veh sign 99
10/48 Inf Bn, veh sign 53

all of which had a red background. (E Coy is no longer relevant to the 10/48 markings story, as they had transferred to 19 MG Regt.)

The battalions in 23 Inf Bde at that time had a green background (7, 8 and 2/4 Pnr Bn) and 19 Inf Bde had a brown background (2/4, 2/8, 23/21 Bns).

When 10/48 Inf Bn was moved to 23 Inf Bde, they were allotted the unit sign 93 on a Green background, as per NT Force GS Instruction 37 of 6 April 1943.

So:
10/48 Bn Dec 42 to March 43: 53 on red. (part of 3 Inf Bde).
10/48 Bn March 43 till Sept 43: 93 on green (part of 23 Inf Bde until end Sept, then became part of 2 Inf Bde, then in July 1944, moved to 12 Aust Inf Bde)

Formation sign: Buffalo on boomerang from Jan 43 onwards.

Thank you.... I think we have it sorted!

Pity Graham Mck-Smith only produced the two volumes, they are excellent references. His original intention was to produce volumes to cover the entire mainland, but I've not seen anymore than V1&2: have you?

Mike