Jail Bar Ford

[Mike K]

I spotted this Ford for sale on Gumtree. Not many of these ''barn find' Fords are left these days. It appears to be a 30 cwt model but hard to say. It may be a postwar assembled truck but the door glass is one piece, this indicates , it is a fully imported wartime cab. The battery needs a charge and away you go, although the engine compartment looks like a haven for red back spiders.

Searching through the online Trove newspapers I found some 1944 adverts and info - wartime essential users (farmers) could purchase a new Ford truck. Appears that the government imported a number of 3 Ton models under Lend Lease arrangements. The six cyl. variant is rare here, Ian S. has one.

[Dave Newcomb]

Some Fords had the 6 lug gm wheels required during the war-this has the normal 5 lug Ford pattern. Dave

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Dave Newcomb

Some Fords had the 6 lug gm wheels required during the war-this has the normal 5 lug Ford pattern. Dave

OK didn't know that.

Another one for sale , in better shape and much closer. A few of these wartime Lend Lease Fords were still in use on farms here into the 1970s. 1944 newspaper snippet.

The chap we bought the WOT2 trucks from, he had a 3 Ton jail bar Ford that he ran on his farm up past St. Arnaud , I remember driving the Ford back to his house, he was surprised at how easily I handled the crash gear box.

[Mike K]

Found a NAA file which indicates: the government requested a huge number , 40,000 Lend Lease trucks. I suspect that the number that actually arrived was far less than 40k.

With a population of 7 million , that would work out to a new truck for each group of 175 people.

[Lang]

Mike

It does not take long for a whole Army to suck up 40,000 vehicles particularly if all the national support and manufacturing infrastructure gets a bite of the pie.

A normal division establishment could be as large as 3,000 vehicles. Obviously that number would be reduced in New Guinea etc. I would guess at least double the number allocated to fighting divisions (plus Air Force and Navy) would be floating around in reserve and military support units, essential services, manufacturing and agriculture, road/airfield building etc.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Lang

Mike

It does not take long for a whole Army to suck up 40,000 vehicles particularly if all the national support and manufacturing infrastructure gets a bite of the pie.

A normal division establishment could be as large as 3,000 vehicles. Obviously that number would be reduced in New Guinea etc. I would guess at least double the number allocated to fighting divisions (plus Air Force and Navy) would be floating around in reserve and military support units, essential services, manufacturing and agriculture, road/airfield building etc.

Wonder if the 40K Lend Lease vehicles requested includes the 15,000 Jeeps that arrived. The 40k number in that document may have been a arbitrary figure that a beaurocrat dreamed up, needs more research. The naa files reveal how the vehicle situation changed from 1939 when the army was in dire need of transport , to 1944, when there was a surplus of some types of vehicles.


Ian G. Posted this pic on F/book. A military Jailbar Ford in the Northern Territory , it has a roof hatch, 18 inch divided rims made by Ford Aust. The cab is a Ford Australia built cab, the doors have the quarter vent windows.