Staghound Restoration

[David Dunlop]

Dirk. What a fascinating Staghound you have to work on!

My wife's Father and Uncles served with the 12th Manitoba Dragoons during and after the war and a neighbour down the lane from my parents also served with that Regiment.

Your vehicle is interesting from so many levels. The US Army was definitely not a major user of this vehicle during the war. I believe a number served with US Forces in Australia and may have been used post war by the Australian Army and I think some were based in the United States during the war, to serve what purpose I do not know. The US certainly sold a number of Staghounds to Central and South American counties post war, but where those vehicles came from I do not know.

I have seen pale blue US Army markings on a few wartime vehicles but it does not seem to have been a common practice. This is the first time as well that I can recall ever seeing a US Army number on a vehicle using the decimal point system of numbering. It would be interesting to know when and why US vehicles used pale blue markings and when the decimal numbering system was in use.

I am not familiar with how other Canadian Regiments that used the Staghound came by their vehicles other than the 12th Manitoba Dragoons. They did not get their vehicles until the Regiment arrived in England, and they were apparently drawn from existing British stocks of the vehicle already in England, so those at least, should not have passed through US Army hands.

I cannot wait to follow your restoration story of this vehicle!

Best regards,


David

[Mike Cecil]

Hi David,

Your comment that "..... a number served with US Forces in Australia and may have been used post war by the Australian Army" .... needs some clarification.

US Forces in Australia did not use Staghounds: the T17E1s in Austraia were purchased by the Australian Army in 1943(?) when the local 'Rhino' Heavy Armoured Car project fell over. The type was used in Australia during WW2, and a small number were deployed to Japan as part of BCOF, but were soon withdrawn due to limitations imposed by the road system in the Australian AO.

They remained in service with the Australian Army, mainly the reserve, until the 1970s.

Mike

[David Dunlop]

Thanks, Mike. So even less use by the US Army than I thought.

David

[Russ Gregg]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

I have seen pale blue US Army markings on a few wartime vehicles but it does not seem to have been a common practice. This is the first time as well that I can recall ever seeing a US Army number on a vehicle using the decimal point system of numbering. It would be interesting to know when and why US vehicles used pale blue markings and when the decimal numbering system was in use.

It was my understanding that the blue markings on US vehicles were painted pre-war. Once the war started they went to white.

[tankbarrell]

Blue lettering was for tactical purposes and lasted well into the war. All US vehicles built to US Govt. contracts had a USA serial applied.

My Sherman, built in Sept. 42, had its number written in blue as follows:-

U.S.A. W-3.057.081

It also had its WD number, T-146309 in blue.

[Russ Gregg]

Thanks for the clarification Adrian. Was there something to delineate blue numbering from white (date, purpose, origin etc) or was it a change that was rolled out on an as needed basis? Maybe original number in blue and later field revisions in white?

[Dirk Thielens]

Thank you all for the information.
Is there a way to "calculate" the Commonwealth Registration number (F number) from the USA Registration number? Or is there no relation between the two?

[lssah2025]

On HMVF..

Staghound NOS Original Head gasket

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread...al-Head-gasket

[Mike Cecil]

Dirk,

Each Commonwealth country used their own registration system. In Australia, the registration number of Staghounds supplied under lend-lease arrangements was the original USA registration number less the 'USA', ie just the numerals. These were not unique in that regard: many imported AFVs such as M3 Medium and Matilda were identified for Australian registration purposes by the number assigned in their country of origin, less any national identification such as 'USA'.

David: I'm not aware of any US military use of the T17E1 - as far as I know, they were designed and built to a Brit specification and supplied under Lend Lease to the British Purchasing Commission (BPC) for distribution.

Mike

[tankbarrell]

Originally Posted by Dirk Thielens

Thank you all for the information.
Is there a way to "calculate" the Commonwealth Registration number (F number) from the USA Registration number? Or is there no relation between the two?

Generally no. UK and Canadian census numbers were issued in blocks and have no correlation to the USA number.

[tankbarrell]

Originally Posted by Russ Gregg

Thanks for the clarification Adrian. Was there something to delineate blue numbering from white (date, purpose, origin etc) or was it a change that was rolled out on an as needed basis? Maybe original number in blue and later field revisions in white?

I suspect that was the case but I feel sure later production were in white at the factory.