Australian Army Body Types web page

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Hanno,

Thanks for those links.
I have wondered about a few differences on the two 15 CWT Australian built bodies I have and perhaps someone on the forum can shed some light on them.

The old scanned photo is obviously a No.2 lying in the grass and it had the hinged doors on the wheel valances forming a storage locker above the wheels. The bottom floor of the locker was lowered to the bed of the body to form a flat floor and the valances were removed, probably by a civilian owner to make a tray for a truck.

The body on my F15A is slightly different to that one if it is a No.2 also. (Is there a better photo around than the one on the link of a No.3 body?) There are no storage doors or lockers at the wheel valances. There is no stiffener plates at the bolts that hold the valances to the sides of the body as there are on the other body and there are only 3 cleats each side to secure the cover. On the other photo there are a series of hooks to secure the covers.

A couple of AWM photos attached show both types of 15 CWT body variations.
Interestingly, one photo shows the three cleat lashing point version like the one on my chassis but with the side stowage lockers and doors. The photo showing the version with the series of hooks for the cover lacks the storage compartment and doors.The captions did not specify the body types.

I realize in the AWM photos one is a Ford and the other is a Chevy but I believe Holden built the bodies for both companies so cannot see why there would be any difference.

Any info gratefully received.

Cheers,

[Mike Cecil]

Jacques

They are Both No.2 bodies, one early (no valance locker) and the other late. I've not found anywhere that notes the change, but neither have I found a differing nomenclature for each body either (like 2 and 2A, etc).

GMH Woodville built all the 15cwt base bodies as far as I can tell. The Ford used body has a circular tag welded to the rear, the Chev used bodies has a screwed on pressed zinc plate.

Both images you show are of Battery Staff fitted out vehicles (with Sunshine cabs). The BS vehicles base on CMPs were later converted to GS by removing the internal fittings.

Dave Prince's list appears to be based on the DMV publication with poorly photo copied images. It is not a comprehensive list of body types, and some, like the Tank Attack 2 pdr portee, show the English/CDN version, not the Australian.

Mike

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Jacques

GMH Woodville built all the 15cwt base bodies as far as I can tell. The Ford used body has a circular tag welded to the rear, the Chev used bodies has a screwed on pressed zinc plate.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Many thanks for shedding some light on those two bodies.

Of interest are the two tags you mentioned. The Holden zinc tag came off the body pictured in the paddock and the round one is the one on my F15A chassis.

The paddock find was very rotten on the floor from years of sitting in the open. I salvaged the sides, tailgate and hinges, front, and half round bars on the floor plus the zinc ID tag. The floor was beyond hope but I did manage to use it to draw up plans to replicate it before it went for scrap. When the second body came along it negated the need to fabricate a floor.

Cheers,