To try to answer a few questions that my posting generated:
David,
I'm not sure about US vs. Canadian sourcing of the M-H-supplied NPC Fords, but see no reason the couldn't have come from the US. It's correct that Ford US built no RHD vehicles, but that doesn't say they didn't export them, which I'm fairly confident they did, to smallish overseas assembly operations like NZ and South Africa. Of course, the US vehicle frames were drilled for their drive pattern throughout the '30s and '40s, so no problem there. Yes, M-H simply convered these standard ambidextrous Ford frames to RHD for countries like Australia instead of to LHD for the US. This merely entailed a RHD version of the front two cross members (cutouts for the front drive shaft) and the same for the transfer case and front diff, which were mirror images of their LHD mates. The internals remained the same, of course.
Aussie Army M-H Fords that I've seen have both Canadian and US engines, but as you note, most have been transplanted at some stage, often because of Ford's great reco engine program or a backyard swap. I'd say that over 50% of the ones I've seen have Canadian engines, with either iron or aluminium heads, so I suspect the original engines, and probably the frames, were sourced in Canada. Therefore, extrapolating, the M-H components were probably from Canadian Traction.
Nuyt, I can't recall if Detroit Public Lib. has anything directly on the NPC orders, but doubt it. I'll check my collection list and respond. What they've got is Arthur Herrington's personal papers, mostly correspondence, but loads of brilliant company vehicle photos and good stuff from AH's 1938 sales trip to Egypt, Greece, Romania, etc. where we see him driving a truck up near the Pyramids as a publicity stunt (same with a woody up the Acropolis, first vehicle to do it, to wow the Greek Army), which resulted in sales to the Egyptian Army. Some of these vehicles turn up later in photos of the Long Range Desert Group and related formations in the N.African campaign.
M-H also sold significant orders to the Belgian Army (their request was also the inception of the 1/2-ton M-H Ford pickup in 1937, predecessor of the Jeep), mostly gun tractors but some armoured cars. M-H also sold large numbers of armoured cars to Iran, c. 1935-9; many M-H trucks also went to Russia during the war under Lend Lease.
By the way, New Zealand also used the same 1939-41 3-ton (reinforced 1.5-ton frame) M-H Ford artillery tractors as the Aussie Army. At least one of these is still extant, fully restored and driveable in a NZ museum.
You will make it to Detroit before I ever will, so go for it!
David again, re. axles:
All Ford M-H trucks I'm aware of -- any country, any year, LHD or RHD, 4x4 or 6x6 -- used a Ford front diff the same as a Ford rear diff, but of course with M-H front wheel drive componentry added. Even the 1/2-tons use a modified Ford rear diff in the front. My Aussie Army '42 6x6, and all others I've seen, are ALL Timken in the rear axles, interchangeable with Ford -- nothing Thornton about them.
Ford of Canada would have bought M-H transfer cases, not built them.
Tony:
You are correct on the Aussie Salvo vans being M-H 1-tonners. I forgot about them in my previous posting, though I'd found those same AWM photos you posted. I'd say Ford Geelong had its hands well and truly full (as did Ford NZ, which did assembly plus refurb. for all Allied armies in the Pacific theatre) cranking out trucks, ships, guns, aircraft fuel tanks, etc. for the Aussie war effort, which was completely govt.-controlled. I don't think they had time, or permission, to think at all about commercial business for M-H conversions, much less anything else!
Eric:
I've never seen a pedestal machine gun mount like that on pre-war M-Hs for US military use, most of which went to the USMC, and few at that. I've only seen this mount on Hanno's website pictures of Dutch trucks. I have some pics of pre-war US military M-H 1/2-ton trucks (and larger) -- USMC operational rigs plus prototypes for the Army, Coast Guard and National Guard units, that look very like Bob Schutt's Queensland NEI-diverted 1/2-ton pickup (none of these trucks are armoured). M-H produced a separate line of armoured cars on a Ford 1.5-ton chassis, which the US Army never took up, but the Belgians and Iranians did. These trucks evolved, with significant conservative design elements, from the first 1/2-ton M-H 4x4 prototype built to meet a Belgian Army request in 1936-7. The first truck was a converted '36 Ford pickup, which featured in many M-H ads.
LD-1-4 in M-H nomenclature means a 1937 1/2-ton -- "LD" for Light Duty, "1" for the first year of production for the 1/2-ton model, and "4" for 4WD. My 1939 is an LD-3-4, and Bob Schutt's 1942 NEI pickup is an LD-6-4. These trucks are all super-rare, military or civilian. Even rarer are the Ford passenger cars that M-H converted using the same gear. My US LHD M-H 1/2-ton transfer case is the mirror image of the RHD one that Bob's truck should have.
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