[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by rupert condick

Hi Ian
I should mention that British WD dos were Sometimes painted under the bonnet,
Just in case repainting covered them up,

I think you will find these numbers are receipt or voucher numbers when they arrive at a Vehicle Depot and were used post war. For instance if the WW2 Austin in your photo had gone through a rebuild programme later in its life and returned to a Vehicle Depot the number would be applied then. I am pretty sure the numbers were not applied during WW2 era. You will find them on many British Army vehicles that were in service in the 1950's.