Dodge T203B in Australia

[Mike Cecil]

Mike - what is the NAA file ID number, please?

This is a short, very generalised article about the broader RLL account with the USA that I wrote for the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) newsletter about 20 years ago. May be of interest.


It is generally well known that the United States of America supplied the Allied countries with enormous quantities of military equipment during the Second World War. Moreover, the supply of this equipment came under the ‘Lend Lease’ scheme, which deferred any payment until after the eventual cessation of hostilities. With Australia’s comparatively limited manufacturing capability and capacity, there was a great dependence on the United States Lend Lease scheme to provide particular classes of military equipment that were otherwise not available in the quantities needed from more traditional suppliers like the United Kingdom. While tanks, aircraft, searchlights and military motor vehicles were the ‘big ticket’ items provided to Australia under Lend Lease, there was also large quantities of equipment and parts that were essential for the local manufacture of war equipment in Australia. Without such aid, Australia would certainly have been struggling to equip and maintain the military forces with the up-to-date equipment needed for the Nation’s defence and later, the pursuit of the enemy to the final victory.

But what is generally not known is that Australia also manufactured and supplied large quantities of goods and provided many services to United States Forces both in Australia and throughout the Pacific Theatre of operations. While the materiel coming to Australia was provided under ‘Lend Lease’, Australia’s contribution to the United States was called ‘Reciprocal or Reverse Lend Lease’, or just ‘RLL’. For a comparatively small country, it was vast and incredibly diverse. The supply of RLL was based upon three premises. Firstly, Australia would supply from those areas where there was already a sound and expandable basis of production. This included fresh and processed foodstuffs, timber, military cloth and clothing, and leathergoods. Secondly, Australia would supply specialist items of military equipment developed and in production locally. This included such diverse items as AT5/AR8 aircraft radio sets, Light Weight-Air Warning (LW/AW) radar units, mobile steam cookers, mobile laundry trailers and 5,000 miles of combat signal cable. The third category was those items that could have been supplied from the USA, but were available within Australia and thus could reduce the transportation burden between the two continents. Motor cars for local use by US Forces, many of them impressed from Australian citizens for use by the military, fall into this category. Indeed, while the steering wheel position on the right side was unfamiliar to US service personnel, the makes were not, as many were pre-Pacific war American imports such as De Soto, Plymouth, and Hudson. Shipbuilding was a major area of supply as well, with Australia manufacturing everything that floated from small dories to Lighters, barges, tug boats and floating docks. By 1944, more than 20,000 Australians were directly involved in the manufacture of munitions and ships for the use of US Forces, with many more employed by sub-contractors. It was a huge National commitment that totalled $500 Million by August 1945, or about 75% of the value of US Lend-Lease aid provided to Australia. While the US contribution of sophisticated military hardware cannot be underestimated, Australia can rightly claim that it was also a period when we supplied the Yanks.

On another note, I seem to remember Bob Schutt had a 1 ton MH under restoration about 20 years ago. He was having trouble finding parts.