C8AX Tac Sign

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Ausmick

Does anyone know if this is right and what the Aussie RN over 68022 stands for?

Hi Mick,

Any chance that the RN68022 number means Royal Navy? It could have been a base vehicle in port in Aus or NZ. The serial looks like the same configuration as used on RN vehicles in the UK at that time.

[Ausmick]

I thought of that Richard but have only found two different types of Army colours. A dark green with the Kiwi markings then above that the Olive Drab Australian Colour. What is a real pain for me I was doing some research last night and came across an Australian Blitz with an ARN on both its Cowls, then, painted on the left hand side bar was the ARN and the letters RN straight after it (maybe RN is registration number?) now for the life of me I cannot find that pic!.

[Tony Smith]

The Aust Army never had C8AX vehicles, so there would be no ARN. The ones that appear in Aust were bought in a post-war surplus auction in the Solomons, so it is unclear how later Aussie green was applied as a top coat, unless it was done at some later time by a "Restorer". WW2 Khaki Green No 3 (the original paint finish) is not too dissimilar to Vietnam era Aussie Olive Drab, just a little darker.

Richard's comment re RN is interesting as Royal Navy is one option I had considered, but gave little thought to as the South Pacific zone saw little action by the RN. It was controlled by the USN under Admiral Halsey, and all port facilities would have beeen US, except those in New Zealand. I don't see what Royal Navy presence would have been in NZ or the South Pacific after April 43 to acquire a C8AX.

However, that said, Mike Kelly said in this post #55 :
"During the later stages of the Pacific war, the RN sent out aircraft carriers and other vessels to Australia , places like Sydney were buzzing with RN units. They were building up for the expected invasion of the Japanese mainland. I do know of a restored C8AX that was marked with RN on the doors. The owner attempted to trace its history through RN archives, but came up with nothing.

Maybe these vehicles were on loan or purchased even .Or maybe the RN officially or unofficially pilfered a few vehicles from the islands as deck cargo.
We will never know the full story. Many vehicles changed ownership with a few bottles of booze as payment."

[Ausmick]

OK Tony, I am starting to learn already that everything to do with history restoration of this little truck is as clear as Mud! I have now looked at some RN Trucks and noticed the markings on them and the RN is after the number. So the one I was looking at the other night must have been RN not Aust at all.
This truck was purchased about 1950 from Sydney and used as a light farm truck until the 70’s and the old guy set it up as a bush fire fighter till it was pensioned off by the brigade. I can’t see a ‘restorer’ getting to it in that period. While it would be good to track the meaning of RN68022 down, and I’ll keep looking, I think I better concentrate on the Kiwi history, which is a bit clearer, sort of.
If the Kiwi numbers were located on the doors, what were the numbers selected by i.e. did they match a chassis number or something. All I know about them is they started with NZ......, and so far does this sound right for the truck, 3rd NZ Division, 2 NZEF-IP, 102 formation with a unit from the list you provided above? Do the Kiwi’s have some sort of ARN/Truck register similar to the records kept by the AWM?

[Rob Beale]

The NZ numbers were set up about 1942. The early ones went on pre war vehicles and impressed vehicles taken from civilians. Once the orders for new vehicles started arriving, the tally of numbers leapt so that the earliest C8AX numbers are around 22,000 and up. One source says the C8AX were assembled in batches of 200 each month, and all have a date of the 5th!
We believe there were 1200 of them, sent from Canada in 1943 as cab and chassis in CKD form (completely knocked down) and assembled in the GM plant in Petone, near Wellington: hence the XH on the chassis number, 8448 is the model number and the next 3 digits are the chassis serial.

I have a copy of the NZ numbers in existence at the end of the war, so the early stuff has gone, and there are many gaps for vehicles written off or sold. There is no correlation to engine or chassis numbers, and the whole numbering system is quite random with sequential numbers jumping between vehicle types.

Your vehicle won't be on the list as it will have been sold off and not returned to NZ. As well as the doors, the number was also painted on the rear of the body, sometimes on or below the tailgate, or one one side of the back panel.
(On post war vehicles it might be on the glove box, or below the windscreen).

As Tony said, it seems Aussie got a lot of our war service vehicles, while we have the ones that stayed at home!
It is likely that some have served in K Force in post war Japan, and K Force in Korea. I guess the forces in the Malayan Emergency may have had a few too.

I've got the 'set' of C8AX: GS, Ambulance and Radio shack. The first two have original decks and I have found original canopies in NZ to copy.
PM me for photos if you want.

cheers
Rob

[Ausmick]

Thanks Rob,
I sent you a message. Here is a picture of its plate if its of any use to finding more out.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Ausmick

I think I better concentrate on the Kiwi history, which is a bit clearer, sort of.
If the Kiwi numbers were located on the doors, what were the numbers selected by i.e. did they match a chassis number or something. All I know about them is they started with NZ...... Do the Kiwi’s have some sort of ARN/Truck register similar to the records kept by the AWM?

As Rob has said, there is no complete record of NZ vehicle registrations. We have to do it the hard way and record the survivors! As the production of C8AX vehicles was quite low, we have started a list to collect as much info as possible in one place. We have already "captured" your vehicle from the E-bay listing, but if you do find any NZ number let us all know and it will be added to the list.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

Richard's comment re RN is interesting as Royal Navy is one option I had considered, but gave little thought to as the South Pacific zone saw little action by the RN. It was controlled by the USN under Admiral Halsey, and all port facilities would have beeen US, except those in New Zealand. I don't see what Royal Navy presence would have been in NZ or the South Pacific after April 43 to acquire a C8AX.

There was considerable presence of Royal Navy aircraft in Australia and Pacific regions, both on land and carriers. Around Sydney and East Coast, MONAB's were sited, Mobile Navy Operating Bases, which would have required vehicles. As these may have been in short supply, there is no reason why a one could not have been picked up in NZ by a visiting carrier.

Check out these sites, makes fascinating reading;
www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Squadrons/MONAB.html

http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/navy/rnfaa.htm

[Ausmick]

Richard, that was good reading and the possibilities are now becoming endless. I have sent some information off to the RN history section dealing with MONAB in Australia and hope some light will come from this. Some of these bases were in Australia for years after the war and could have even picked this truck up then.

I found the picture I was trying to find that had a number with RN on it and it was on a thread from here:

http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/sh...1&postcount=36

[hrpearce]

Hi Ausmick,
Thats my blitz and everything makes sence except that "RN" number.
When I went to the War Memorial in Canberra and looked up the ARNs in the volumes of the AWM126 the ARN becide the bonet matched the engine and chassis numbers on the truck.
The RN number however belongs to a F15A that went to New Guinea (?spelling). As Euan pointed out the bumper is drilled for a Chev and has no spare holes so how this number ended up on my truck is a mystery.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by hrpearce

The RN number however belongs to a F15A that went to New Guinea (?spelling). As Euan pointed out the bumper is drilled for a Chev and has no spare holes so how this number ended up on my truck is a mystery.

Robert,

The fact that your "RN number" has the letters after the number, points to a British Royal Navy serial number. ( The RAF prefixed letters to numbers, and RN suffixed them). The number being same as a F15A in New Guinea is probably a coincidence. My feeling is that Mick's RN number, if it proves to be Royal Navy, was mistakenly painted with the letters first. What is needed is some archive photos of the MONAB airfields showing vehicles and any markings on them.

All fascinating and leads to all sorts of other things when you start searching.