another Aussie humber fv1601

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

The little information available is handwritten, by several different clerks, with various acronyms used, depending on who did the writing.
I can tell you that yours was one of 15 sold off with the notation 5B/VSD/B27, all written by the same hand, and among the last to be demobbed.
I'm reasonably confident that the notation 3BOD/SEY/ is 3 Base Ordinance Depot at Seymour (Puckapunyal), this could mean the 5B/VSD is 5 Base Ordinance Depot at VSD?
I believe that your batch would have been sold in WA. In those days I'm pretty sure the disposal was done through a specific army base in each State, not subbed out like today. So it would not have made sense (even for the army...) to bring them back East.
A few went in '66, the bulk was sold mid '67 to late '69. There were a few with no date, and the odd anomaly, but it appears none of them made it to the 70's.
I hope this is of some help.
Rich.

[john piercey]

Richard,thats interesting info,i may never ever know its full story but if theres a chance it was last used in WA i could probably take artistic licence and mark it out as at least some WA regt with some glimmer of truth behind it.
Midland was a transport depot and another was alongside Canning hwy in Sth Perth area from memory all long gone now,just trying to decipher the VSD bit?.
Removed tub to get at everything eventually, but concentrating on roof rust at moment so dont want grinding grit every where it doesnt have to be.
rubbed back doors yesterday but not a hint of markings left,i presume it was rubbed down prior to red fire unit paint which may have been the cause of said marks to have disappeared,also may have been when tool brackets etc went walkabout.
John

[john piercey]

Just as an aside to Humber movements this shows the lengths of travel some service vehicles saw,the ex RNZIR 66 kiwi land rover i have which is closer to british MOD ones spec wise than Aussie landys, went to NZ then shipped to singapore and may have seen vietnam service was imported to Perth in a batch of landys and bedford RLs may be 20 or more vehicles in mid 80s for auction here instead of returning to NZ, so army type decisions can be a bit puzzling in any country,unless they WERE sold off in Singapore and then imported by a private concern.
I saw 6 or 7 of the landrovers some were rotten as a chop chassis wise others were near perfect all with low mileages ,some made it on to WA roads but havent seen any recently,the sole Bedford i saw was very nice all hood bows and canvas present went to a collector i know not where,there is a bit of a write up on REMLR re the auction and numbers but i cant remember it clearly.
John

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Thanks Robert, my assumptions may be correct.
Don't worry too much about the crowbar, while I know the brackets were designed for a crowbar, I have yet to see any proof of them being fitted. Dave has gone to the trouble of sourcing a period correct military issue item, I like to think it is the first Humber to finally get it's own bar.

John, you have plenty of artistic licence, you only have to please one person! Apart from which, there is so little information relating to the Humber in our service, I have only seen a handful of in service photo's. It will be a rare occurrence indeed to be called out on anything re: the Humber, although I hope you would resist the urge paint general stars all over the bumper as was the craze amongst Jeep owners a few tears back!
Rich.

[john piercey]

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starting to pull panel back in to shape

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second point of attachment

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use what ya got

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this and next pic 3/4 finished

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[john piercey]

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inside shed and coming apart
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grille stripped ready for etch prime

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rust area at bottom of spare tyre hatch opening

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painted straightened grille(not that it was badly out of shape anyway)

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new metal sections welded in

[john piercey]

Sorry pics are a bit out of order still getting used to all this.
Just been going back over Richard and dave and others stories,sees we all have a sharp learning curve when first becoming owners of these beasts,asking same questions back a few years as i am now doing,love all this research you have to do just to become a little bit "conversant" when you talk to others about the truck'
John

[Robert Sexton]

Richard, my research for WW1 and WW2 personnel all refer to the 5th Military District when dealing with WA. You are most likely correct to assume that "5B" means 5th Base and when we get to Nasho's all the regimental numbers for personnel WA start with 5.if the.Hopefully when I am in the big city again I will see some people at the Fremantle Army Museum as they have a collection of records (and vehicles).
I still am thinking that the crow bar on the Humber shown be Dave has been pinched from a railway gang.
regards, Robert