AoS Number 1st Rocket Battery RCA

[Neilie]

I am not sure if this is the correct Forum for this question but I am contemplating doing a model in 1/76 scale of a CMP LAAT towing a "Land Mattress" I have a good photo of one being loaded from what looks to be the back of a CMP LAAT by a Gunner. Where the AoS is normally located I can make out the number 9901 on what appears to be a dark (black) background but it could be the shadows hiding the normal Red/Blue patch. I have listings of the 1st Cdn Army in 1945 showing the AoS numbers for the various units but for the 1st Rocket Bty it just shows a blank Red/Blue with Army White bar below. Do any of you have information on what the AoS number was for this unit in early to mid 1945.

Thanks in advance.

Neil Craig

[Alex van de Wetering]

Neil,

Would that be the picture from the side of the vehicle, where you can only just see the last bit of the LAAT body with the small locker?

I recently finished a C30 LAAT in 1/35, and was also very curious about their use towing the Land Mattress and possible markings.

[Neilie]

It certainly looks like a CMP LAAT to me with the back opening and curtain and the towing hook and winch roller. I also found reference in the war diaries of the use of LAAT's to tow the Land Mattress but for some silly reason didn't save it.

I am still curious as to the AoS number.

Cheers,

Neil

[Jordan Baker]

Here is the picture in question.

[Jordan Baker]

https://archive.org/details/1-cdn-ro...e/n45/mode/1up

[Alex van de Wetering]

Here is the picture I was referring to.


The pictures of the Land Mattress are covered in Numerical 82 at the Canadian Archives. (relevant pages attached to this post)

https://recherche-collection-search....&app=FonAndCol

Another series of pictures of the Land Mattress appears in the Imperial War Museum collections online. And I think 3 videos appear online of the Land Mattress in action (one Canadian Newsreel, 2 British IWM), but so far I have only seen the C30 LAAT tractor in the 2 pictures in this thread.

Neil, did you manage to find out more about the markings?

[Alex van de Wetering]

Land Mattress in action

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ect/1060014747
IWM A70 237-3

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ect/1060014746
IWM A70 237-2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OozfDNyAA10
Canadian Newsreel 64

[Alex van de Wetering]

Originally Posted by Neilie

Where the AoS is normally located I can make out the number 9901 on what appears to be a dark (black) background but it could be the shadows hiding the normal Red/Blue patch.

Neil Craig

Playing the devils advocate....could the "9901" be the last 4 digits of the census number? I have seen the census number on LAATs in different positions.....on the mud flap, on rear body corners and even on the canvas "door" in the rear of the body.

The vehicle is most definitely a LAAT by the way, judging from the winch fairleads, a Chev C30.

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Thanks for those photos — I have the Resicast kit in my stash, I’m sure they will come in handy when I get round to building it

[Neilie]

I have neglected to check this site for updates lately but a friend Dick Harley indicated there were some responses so thanks for all the input re my request. As I was never to determine the AoS for the 1st Cdn Rocket Bty. I opted play it safe and to portray the vehicle as one from the 6th LAA Regt. 112 Bty who were selected to train on using the Land Mattress and eventually became the cadre for the 1st Rocket Bty. If interested, I post my models on Facebook sites including the MAFVA site:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/478175569040094 (just scroll down a few posts).

and have also put it on the WW2 Talk forum here:

https://ww2talk.com/index.php?thread...ttress.105443/

Thanks again to all for your kind input and a special thanks to Alex van der Wetering for all the detailed photos.

Cheers,

Neil

[Alex van de Wetering]

Terrific result, Neil! Please also post one or two pictures here on the forum; I am sure others would also like to see the result that don't have access to facebook or ww2talk . (i can post them for you, but I rather leave the honor to you).

Originally Posted by Neilie

As I was never to determine the AoS for the 1st Cdn Rocket Bty. I opted play it safe and to portray the vehicle as one from the 6th LAA Regt. 112 Bty who were selected to train on using the Land Mattress and eventually became the cadre for the 1st Rocket Bty.

That's exactly what I would have done .....and to me it also sounds very credible that given the timeframe, the AoS stayed the same.

Alex

[Neilie]

Thanks very kindly Alex for your generous comments. I posted some model photos some years ago and was reminded that this is not a forum for models but if you would like to see them here, I will post them. If it is not permitted, the moderators can feel free to take them down.

Cheers,

Neil

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Good-looking model, too bad about the nameplate

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Neilie

Thanks very kindly Alex for your generous comments. I posted some model photos some years ago and was reminded that this is not a forum for models but if you would like to see them here, I will post them. If it is not permitted, the moderators can feel free to take them down.

Neil, I would like to reiterate Alex's comments on your very nice models!
As this is a forum about the Canadian Army Overseas in World War II - read https://www.mapleleafup.nl/legacy/about.html - models are equally welcome as real vehicles and all other aspects.
Please feel free to share more of your work and ask the MLU members for input and info to make more of them.

[Neilie]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Neil, I would like to reiterate Alex's comments on your very nice models!
As this is a forum about the Canadian Army Overseas in World War II - read https://www.mapleleafup.nl/legacy/about.html - models are equally welcome as real vehicles and all other aspects.
Please feel free to share more of your work and ask the MLU members for input and info to make more of them.

Thank you very much Hanno for the very kind comments. I model mainly British and Canadian soft-skins and have about 50 of my Canadian models on permanent display at the Regimental Museum of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters in Barrie, Ontario. I will post a couple of my recent scratch-builds here for now but perhaps a new category could be set up for Canadian Military Models where myself and other modellers of Canadian vehicles could display their work.

Cheers,

Neil