Singapore April 1941

[Mike Cecil]

Gents,

Now I know this thread has been dormant for a while, but some additional info that might be of interest. A couple of images show Australian Chevrolet Modified Conventional vehicles with visible Australian Imperial Force (AIF)registrations.

AIF-V-5202 is a Chev 15cwt GS 'van'. The arms visible in this pic are a 'Rifle,.303 inch,No.1 Mk.3*' (a model of SMLE) mounted on the bicycle, and poking out from the rear canopy is a Light Machine Gun, .303 inch, BREN Mk.1. The Mk.1 had a very distinctive barrel, whereas the later Mk.2 and Mk.3 (and the Mk.1/1) had the shorter barrel and fabricated flash eliminator.

AIF-L-9638 and AIF-L-9043 are both 'Lorry, 3 ton, GS'. Both are, of course, Chevrolets (as are the rest in the line).

The 15cwt van was issued in Sydney, and the two 3 tonners were issued in Melbourne. They were all issued at about the same time (28 Jan 1941, and 22 January 1941 respectively) and all carried to Malaya aboard the same ship, the Montferland. Needless to say, they became the property of the Imperial Japanese Army just a year later!

These are a great set of images: thanks for putting them up on the site.

Mike C