Aussie WW2 staff cars

[Mike Cecil]

An interesting but in some ways complicated subject, for which I can provide no comprehensive answers due to the lack of surviving detailed records. So in alphabetical order from the surviving records I have had access to, makes of 'Cars, SS' and 'Cars DS' used across all three services:

Alvis, Austin, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, De Soto, Dodge, Fiat, Ford, Hillman, Hudson, Morris, Nash, Oldsmobile, Opel, Packard, Plymouth, Pontiac, Renault, Rolls Royce, Studebaker, Triumph, Vauxhall, Willys.


The dominant types were Ford (965 minimum not including MC & CMP 6-seaters) and Chev (2,082 minimum not including MC & CMP six-seaters). Total includes several left hand drive Buick, Chev and Ford sedans purchased in the Middle East after the losses in Greece.


There were also several makes for which there has been no registration information located, but which appear in holdings and disposals lists: Bantam, Citroen, Peogot, Reo and Wolseley.



In addition, there was an unknown number of sedan cars supplied to the USASOS and USN which were in use by US Forces on Australian roads. Many of these were returned for credit to the RLL account and disposed of by the CDC. These included Austin, Morris, Standard, Chev, De Soto, Hudson, Nash, Plymouth, Pontiac, Studebaker.



Mike