Rover Light Armoured Car

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Wayne,

The markings are 1 Armd Div (formation) and what looks like 65 for the Unit, which would be 2nd Armoured Brigade Reconnaissance Squadron of 2nd Armd Brigade. Those markings, both Formation, Unit, and the Recce Sqn inverted triangle just visible above the unit marking, were first promulgated in March 1942. That unit, 2 Armd Bde Recce Sqn, was effectively disbanded on 8 November 1942 when it morphed into B Squadron, 2/4th Armoured Regiment, and switched to tanks.

At the time, the unit was still in the Narrabri-Gunnedah area of NSW, having moved there from Puckapunyal, Victoria, in July. The unit sign '65' was used by the unit from March 1942 until November 1942, but had been disbanded by the time elements of the Division moved to Western Australia in 1943. No other unit was listed with the '65' code for 1st Armd Division.

I would therefore suggest that the image, if taken at Puckapunyal - and it certainly matches the terrain - was taken between March and July 1942. If it was taken in NSW, which I doubt, then sometime between July and November.

Mike

[Wayne Henderson]

Thanks for the info Mike. One photo below shows markings on the rear of a Mk1 C Squadron? Unit signs are too far gone to even guess at.
I will try to find Rover photos from either Northam or Moora camps using the State Library as a source.

The other shows repairs to cracks in the hull, you mentioned in Military Profiles that several hulls were rejected because of cracks. Someone welded and patched this hull, not to subtle either.

[Mike Cecil]

Yes, a C Squadron symbol of a circle.

2/11th Aust Armd Car Regt would be a pretty safe bet: located at Mingenew, WA from late December 1942. Consisted of HQ Sqn, and A, B and C Sqns.

Good luck with the photo hunt.

Mike

[Wayne Henderson]

Been going over the hull to fit new armour plate, have noticed that many of the original welds have let go.
Many of the boxes and internal fittings welded to the AAP have separated over the years. Anyone who has welded armour plate knows it requires prep work and knowledge of stress and tension.
I am welding in 5, 8, and 9mm mild steel plate to fill the holes. 9mm AAP is no longer available.
Will be using a MIG and pre heating to do the welds and grinding the welds flush. The Nickle weld will be reproduced by a stick welder later.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Looks good! When you get closer to fabricating larger missing pieces, bear in mind the workshop conditions when these 40 hulls were manufactured. Was there a fully dedicated clean-sheet production line, or were these welded up on jigs on an open stretch of the factory floor? Were the workers the most highly skilled men in the entire factory, or were they the next shift available? Are there signs of careful, precise and repeatable measurements and precision controlled cutters, or more scribe a line and grind down to it?

I mention this degree of imprecision thinking about a story from when DEW Industries in Canada graciously restored a WW1 US light tank which ended its service life in the nascent Canadian Armoured Corps. Don Dingwall was at DEW and he had to laughingly explain to the modern shop workers just how primitive the shops were in 1918-19. Of course nothing would be square or perfect. The workmen were used to making locomotives, which only had a few truly standardized parts.

[Wayne Henderson]

Finished the upper sections today. Looks much better but still the ugliest truck ever. I will tackle the hatches and fittings when time allows.

[Brian Gough]

Wayne, it looks to me like the Rover inspired Elon Musk in the design of Tesla's new Cybertruck.

Brian