CMP of Royal Navy
 

CMP vehicle of British Royal Navy:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/billchi...7623826178790/

Attachment 128641

Great find!

See the rest of the set "Grandad's World War II" here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/billchi...7623826178790/

What a wonderful bunch of photos
 

Hi

What a great photo of a CMP, and thanks Hanno for posting the link to the rest. These are the type of photos which the internet has helps save and share. Think of the people who might be looking around on the web an see a photo of somebody who looks like their grandfather.

Cheers Phil

RAN Jeep
 

Continuing the theme

You dont see that many pics of Navy vehicles

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/P01938.003

My father said he drove a Jeep in Port Moresby , he was RAN . But he was probably not sober at the time , and it was likely inbetween his raiding of US army stores depots . Digging under fences , or giving the guard a bottle of whisky were the normal tactics. Mike

Indeed, although Jeeps were quite common in Navy service.

Here's another CMP in Navy service, albeit US: http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9989

There's a restored C15A Cab 11/12 in the UK, reportedly ex-RN too.

H.

Memory
 

Hanno you have the memory of an elephant, possibly even better! :note:

Rn
 

Not forgetting the Royal Navy C8AX's seen around Sydney late WW2 . The RN had a aircraft carrier in town, and this may have been a link or clue to this mystery.

At least one of these RN trucks has turned up, Len Schutt's C8AX . He tried to trace RN records but no luck. Under layers of paint, he found "RN" and a number on one of the doors . Probably booty from an island along the way , deck cargoe to Sydney ?

No Mike, not booty: cross allocation from NZ (and Aust) to advance elements of Brit Forces in preparation for the invasion of Japan. Just because the war ended in the Pacific, didn't mean that preparatory work had not commenced and was well underway for the proposed invasion.

There are some surviving records of Australian vehicles being allocated in this way, and I strongly suspect the C8AXs from NZ are in the same 'boat'. Once it was time to go home, they were disposed of locally.

There were also Brit elements stationed in Australia during the war, mostly SIGINT and liaison staffs of various types, (such as ordnance supply), and fleet maintenance staff from the RN. It is a generally unknown part of the war effort that Australia received - and sent -large quantities of materiel to various Commonwealth countries under a carefully controlled mutual supply scheme - field guns and slouch hats to India, jungle green shirts and trousers from India - to name just a couple of small examples. To facilitate these transfers, the various countries had staff here, and we had staff there. All required motor transport in various forms.

As for the RAN jeep, I am yet to find records of any jeeps being directly allocated to the RAN during WW2, but have found records of jeeps being allocated locally to RAN from Army holdings, mostly 'offshore', as this one appears to be. It is not until mid-1945 that a quantity of jeeps go to the RAN, mainly as ship's transport (ie carried aboard for shore transport in port) and are allocated registration numbers in the RAN block. With Army in particular screaming for more jeeps right up until the end of hostilities, it is perhaps not surprising that a valuable tactical truck in short supply would not be directly allocated to the RAN during the war.

Mike C

Nope, just a knack for odd things (why else would I be bothered with CMPs?), a vague recollection and 30 minutes on Google.... :giveup

H.

See Royal Navy vehicles for related info.