British Tillies arrive

[Mike K]

A few made it to Western Australia.

West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Saturday 31 March 1945, page 8

UTILITY TRUCKS. LIGHT VEHICLES ARRIVE For Sale to Essential Users. A small number of light utility trucks have arrived in WA for sale to essential users. The procedure for their release, said the Director of Emergency Road Transport, WA (Mr . L.. Millen) on Thursday was for applications to be made through the distributor of the particular make of vehicle, who, In turn, would submit the applications to the officer in charge of new vehicle release at the Department of Emergency Road Transport. Allocation would be made to users in the defined classes on the basis of essentiality of use and need. The vehicles, he said, had come from England. Although the number that had arrived was small, It was hoped that they were the forerunners of at least 250, the types being Austin 10, Morris 10, HEiman 10 and Standard 12. With a more favourable turn of events in Europe, the possibility existed of securing some more. For a long time, he said, the Department of Emergency Road Transport had been concerned at the shortage of utilities for essential users, and he and the directors of Emergency Road Transport in other States had been pressing for an exploration of the avenues of new imports to relieve the position. As a result approaches had been 1 made by the Commonwealth to the! US, Canada and England. American utility production was found to be fully absorbed. Canada could pro-i mise some relief in the heavier utility class, but not immediately. England could only offer relief by making an allocation of the smaller type of utility out of her current army production, and this, in the light of the urgency of Australia's' need, she agreed to do. The circumstances in which the utilities were obtained, Mr Millen said, should make it obvious that they would be available only to users of the highest essentiality. Their: release was restricted to 14 classes , of users whose activities were closely related to war organisation and production. Such of the vehicles as had arrived were of sturdy construction. admirably suited to the work for which they had been allotted, and would afford material relief to the utility position. It was the duty of his department, he said, to see that vehicles spared out of British war production achieved the maximum good in the spheres for which they were allotted, and he was drawing attention to their arrival in order that no defined essential user should be precluded l from consideration by lack of know;ledge of their existence. I