Impressed? Not very!

[Mike Cecil]

Blimey! This thread has taken a few twists and turns ... impressment during WW2 evolving into comments on internment, fast cars and modern/current gun control. Where to next? Views on the current Australian gay marriage debate??!

But I'll have a little say about Japanese Internment: the Australian Government had interned 4,170 Japanese and Thai 'enemy aliens' by July 1942, many having been transferred to Australia from places such as NEI and the Solomon Islands. They were interned at Loveday, South Australia, Hay NSW and Tatura Victoria. The Japanese Legation Staff were confined to their residence in Harcourt Street, Auburn, Victoria.

A 'trade' with the Japanese was arranged by the British Commonwealth in August 1942, exchanging 1,834 Japanese for an equal number of British Commonwealth internees. The Japanese included Minister Tatsuo Kawai and the legation staff in Australia. A total of 871 detainees were transferred from Australia, the remainder from the UK and India. The exchange was carried out at the neutral port of Lourenco Marques, (now Maputo in Mozambique). The cremated remains of the four Japanese submariners from the Sydney Harbour midget sub raid were also handed to the Japanese at the same time. The four urns with the remains had been placed under the care of Minister Kawai in Melbourne when he boarded the ship.

The transport City of Canterbury was used to ship the detainees from Australia, complete with a 77 man armed guard unit (the commander of which was eventually tried by court martial and found guilty for 'cooking the books' during the assignment, but that's another story!)

Although other exchanges were proposed with the Japanese, this was the only one the British Commonwealth was actually able to complete. The remaining 3,200-odd internees remained incarcerated for the duration. It is a very interesting story (but a long way from impressed trucks and motorcycles!!)

Mike

[Mike Cecil]

There was an interesting and extensive 'to do' list once a vehicle was impressed for Army use. For vehicles in Victoria (3rd Military District - 3MD), the vehicles were to be 'gathered' at the 3MD VRD - Vehicle Receiving Depot at Broadmeadows Camp. At that point, several things occurred in sequence, as per 3MD VRD Instruction No.12 dated 21 February 1942:

(1) check vehicle against forms lodged with vehicle: AAF S3; AAF G4; AAF TS4, pro-forma, VOL list.
(2) Check toolkit, and list tools and equipment required to make up the Vehicle Outfit List (VOL). Existing tools in the vehicle kit were to be shown in red on the list.
(3) Assign the ARN from the registration block of numbers assigned to 3MD VRD. Chalk this on the inside of the cab, and write on the forms accompanying the vehicle (see 1 above for forms)
(4) Provide AAB 20 Log Book and complete the AAB 20 part G5 (vehicle details in the log book)
(5) Prepare G14 for vehicle kit, fix label and key rings.
(6) Complete AAF G51 in black pencil (as allocation of vehicle to a unit is not yet known)
(7) Dispatch vehicle with completed AAF G4 to workshop section for repairs/refit. If work scope beyond section, allocate to Base Workshop.
(8) Upon completion of repairs, if vehicle requires tailgate and sides, send to Holden Motors in Ferrars Street, South Melb, for fitting (all tray type vehs were to have sides and rear gate fitted for Army use).
(9) Upon receipt of completed vehicle, Workshop section to repaint in Khaki Green No.3 dull finish, Army number to be painted on centre rear & each side of bonnet in white 3.5 inch block numerals.
(10) Place vehicle on Park ready for issue.

Simple, eh?

Mike

[Robert Bergeron]

This has indeed turned into a "speaker's corner " ..

[Lang]

Robert and Mike

You are right - although the drift is progressive and not completely out of left field.

I think things on the forum can get a bit anal at times with serial numbers, dates and whether the canvas had 3,789 stitches.

The vehicles and equipment are a part of a very big human picture and personally I like to read what that was as well. Inevitably it will contain lots of opinion which will be contradicted but we are all big people and the forum is full of really good blokes and a very civilised one compared to many others.

So long as we don't get into blatant politics or social media slanging matches (which the moderators will jump on anyhow) I get a much better picture of someone on the other side of the world by hearing of what he thinks on some related subject of common interest.

Lang

[rob love]

I have always enjoyed watching the MLU threads meander. It has never really bothered me, and like Lang, it is neat to see the general (and usually similar) feelings from the other parts of the world.

[Mike K]

There was also at least one, possibly more, internment camp(s) administered and staffed by the NEI ( dutch) forces in Australia. The internees were subjects of the NEI govt, escapees from NEI to Australia as the Japanese advanced. Some of the Dutch officers had Aust. girlfriends from nearby towns.

The camps were not strictly guarded and in one case illegal supply drops of booze were flown in by a DC3 , the whole thing was a comedy really. It all turned serious when one of the internees was murdered one night . One of the girls was interviewed on ABC radio and she describing what went on behind the scenes.

The Italian POW camp at the Stud road/Wellington road corner , Wantirna, Melbourne, the CO shot and killed an Italian POW, the CO claimed an escape was in progress, a court martial cleared him

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

There was an interesting and extensive 'to do' list once a vehicle was impressed for Army use. For vehicles in Victoria (3rd Military District - 3MD), the vehicles were to be 'gathered' at the 3MD VRD - Vehicle Receiving Depot at Broadmeadows Camp. At that point, several things occurred in sequence, as per 3MD VRD Instruction No.12 dated 21 February 1942:

(1) check vehicle against forms lodged with vehicle: AAF S3; AAF G4; AAF TS4, pro-forma, VOL list.
(2) Check toolkit, and list tools and equipment required to make up the Vehicle Outfit List (VOL). Existing tools in the vehicle kit were to be shown in red on the list.
(3) Assign the ARN from the registration block of numbers assigned to 3MD VRD. Chalk this on the inside of the cab, and write on the forms accompanying the vehicle (see 1 above for forms)
(4) Provide AAB 20 Log Book and complete the AAB 20 part G5 (vehicle details in the log book)
(5) Prepare G14 for vehicle kit, fix label and key rings.
(6) Complete AAF G51 in black pencil (as allocation of vehicle to a unit is not yet known)
(7) Dispatch vehicle with completed AAF G4 to workshop section for repairs/refit. If work scope beyond section, allocate to Base Workshop.
(8) Upon completion of repairs, if vehicle requires tailgate and sides, send to Holden Motors in Ferrars Street, South Melb, for fitting (all tray type vehs were to have sides and rear gate fitted for Army use).
(9) Upon receipt of completed vehicle, Workshop section to repaint in Khaki Green No.3 dull finish, Army number to be painted on centre rear & each side of bonnet in white 3.5 inch block numerals.
(10) Place vehicle on Park ready for issue.

Simple, eh?

Mike

I am pretty sure I know where one of these impressed vehicles survives . A chap at Diamond creek owns a very nice unrestored 1940 Chev 15 cwt light commercial 115" wb with a wooden body fitted , the body has a GMH badge on it . I had the chance to buy this vehicle 20 years ago when it was at Kyneton , the local GMH dealer there had it for sale $6K . The motor in the chev has a DD rebuild badge on it and the chances are it's the original motor. I lost contact with the owner , wonder where the car is now ?

[Peter Samsonov]

My grandfather's motorcycle was pressed into service in the Red Army. He got a receipt, which entitled him to an equivalent motorcycle (likely a captured one) after the war, but unfortunately he lost it before he could cash it in.