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