Australian ? M.T.CATG.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Rich Payne

Am I right in thinking that the "keycards" date to the transition to the post-war system and would only show vehicles still on strength at that time ? My 16H appears to have been abandoned prior to Dunkirk so presumably wouldn't appear.

I suppose others from the batch may have survived so may give some clue. Do you know how they are categorised? Are they accessible to the public ?

Rich,

You are absolutely correct regarding Key Cards. I was assuming the machine was carried on to the postwar numbering, but of course they were declared obsolete early on in the war. There is a photo of one in Chris's book serving with the Free French Army. The ones in Australia, may well have served in North Africa region and taken back to Australia from there.

There are record cards for some vehicles which consist of contract details, listing dates recieved and how many, contract number, WD numbers, from and to, and sometimes the cost of vehicle. The ones I have actually seen copies of were held by the Tank Museum at Bovington. Contact Janice Tait, the librarian there. As there are only about 11 or 12 contracts for Big 4 combos it should be a relatively easy task, if they have these contract cards.

In the copy of WD Census numbers that I am looking at, the contact your book belongs to is the only one without frame numbers listed. It appears to be the second contract for combos.

Richard