Hi Ken,
I take the reference to 'US' order to mean an order through/on the British Purchasing Commission based in New York, which body was controlling the 'bids' for items by Commonwealth countries, and the allocation of items to Commonwealth countries from each months actual production. The BPC looked at what was available, who wanted what, the urgency of the requirement, and allocated accordingly. This certainly applies to the Cab 12 order, but I'm not sure of the date when Australia ceased ordering direct from US suppliers and when the BPC took over all allocations from North American production, so the '2520 US Order' is possibly one of the direct to US supplier orders common in 1940-41.
Mike
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