Johnson Charging Set
 

AWM Collection

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KILIGIA, NEW GUINEA, 1944-03-12. NX4174 SIGNALMAN J. WALKER (1) AT HEADQUARTERS 5TH DIVISION SIGNALS, USING A 12 VOLT 300 WATT "JOHNSON CHORE HORSE", TO CHARGE BATTERIES IN THE FIELD.

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KILIGIA, NEW GUINEA, 1944-03-12. NX4174 SIGNALMAN J. WALKER (1); Q128304 SIGNALMAN J.P. BELL (2) AND QX52479 SIGNALMAN T.J. CROWLEY (3), MEMBERS OF HEADQUARTERS 5TH DIVISION SIGNALS, PICTURED CARRYING "JOHNSON CHORE HORSE" 12 VOLT 300 WATT CHARGING SETS, FOR USE BY THE WIRELESS DETACHMENT.

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KILIGIA, NEW GUINEA, 1944-03-12. THE "JOHNSON CHORE HORSE" 12 VOLT 300 WATT BATTERY CHARGING SET, VIEWED FROM A CLOSE DISTANCE.

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Two unidentified signalmen operate a field wireless set during tactical training of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR). They were taking part in amphibious training on uninhabited islands in the Inland Sea. 3919 Corporal (Cpl) J Gerrans is sending and receiving messages on a wireless transmitter and the man on the left is cleaning the sparkplug of a portable petrol generator. Note the rechargeable Exide battery attached to the transmitter (centre) and the antenna erected above their position.

Pics
 

I can identify the wireless in the last pic as a WS22 ( Aust.) 1945 . I understand these sets only saw brief WW2 use around July/August 1945. The narrow box in the background , not sure what its function was ?

In the first pic, the Aust. pattern battery boxes are seen . A.T. in Adelaide has a original .

The pic of that guy carrying the chorehorse always make me cringe ... I bet he did that for the camera and then dropped the chorehorse .

funny - I was just playing with my (Canadian) chore horse yesterday.

Nice close up picture of the CH1-395-4. This was the CND contract style. It featured the weather cover, which can be seen folded back.

Good Photos
 

Hi Guys

Were/are these units as noisy as I remember? As I remember they were quite loud and not what you would call for stealth/clandestine operation.

Cheers Phil

One guy carrying a chore horse, another carrying two batteries and two exhaust
and the third carrying two batteries and through the bush at that. Tough guys those Aussies. We can't see which one has the 19 set strapped to his back. :eek:

I didn't think mine was that loud. My lawn mower was noisier. I don't think this was something that would be used that close to the front. I guess you could throw a tarp over it to help deaden any noise.

Bruce.

I would agree with your assessment. When mine were running on the back patio, with just the standard mushroom muffler attached, it was quieter than the average gas lawn mover. When I moved it from the concrete patio to the lawn, it was quieter again, probably due to loss of reflected sound.

Seem to recall that when it was under load charging a battery, the sound level dropped a bit more as well.


David

Hmmm camera
 

The signalman with headphones is a good actor . Look at the antenna post on the wireless set, there isn't anything connected to it :confused

Hmmm, AWM captions, eh?

J... Um.. J? ..... Jack? Jim? John? Jeremiah? No, sorry can't identify that fella. :doh:

Look what I picked up last weekend, No compression and no spark but spins over on the push of a button.

Attachment 83358

Attachment 83359

Attachment 83360

Attachment 83361

The photos are a bit fuzzy as the conditions weren't too good for taking photos.

spares
 

Good find Rick , it looks to be pretty complete . Many of them were converted to 24V operation to match the Larkspur radio system - these are usually painted in DBG

Bill Drew had a mountain of NOS spares for them . I still have a NOS crankshaft and valves, piston, rings and NOS brown coloured air cleaner with the yellow decal . Points, ig. coil and more. The original long flex exhaust pipe does turn up at swap meets .

Hard to see for sure, but in the first picture, is the kill switch in the "off" position?
\

We used the 24 volt chorehorse when I was in the militia to back up the C42 radio sets when manning an observation post. We would use the long exhaust hose that came with it, and you buried the end of the hose in the sand. Set up this way, you would barely hear the chorehorse.

I just noticed this detail tonight. Check out picture number 3 in post 1. That's a huge C broad arrow on the control panel.