Ian ,
Are you sure its a 12 cwt vehicle ? These were based on the sedan chassis . It could be a 15 cwt .
I have seen the military type instrument clusters ( round instruments ) on the late production Chev. 15 cwt GS Vans . The Aust. army parlance for utes , was GS Vans .
Generally , up to 1941 , the utes in military service , were unmodified . Its a grey area as many 39-40 civilian models were taken from civilian owners , and used by the army .
New civilian vehicles were strictly rationed , you had to be a 'essential user ' , e.g., doctor , farmer . The restrictions were eased later on in the war .
Have a look at my article , just click on " Aussie utes in military service "
http://www.geocities.com/vmvc1au/newsletter.html
I have the remains of two 1940 15 cwt utes here ....
Mike
AWM pic of a GMH 42 - 47 Chev 15 cwt . These utes were in production until 1947 . The late production ones had the military instruments . Basically no army mods at all . Quite a few of the post war examples have survived here . The 1941 version , had a seperate cab / ute body . I am not exactly sure when GMH began making the one piece body on these .
P.S. I wonder how many girls today , could change tyres like these girls are doing .