cab 12 roof

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

I don't remember seeing any Ford roofs here without the hatch

This stems from CMP 3-tonner introduction in mid-late '41, whereby 8th Army in Egypt appears to have received exclusively Chevs, while Australia received exclusively Fords. Clearly Australia received priority in this respect! Upon arrival the Fords were fitted with roof hatch as Mike describes (standard MCP hatch) while AIF units in ME were issued only hatchless Chevs. Of course, the policy to exclude Chevs from Australia unravelled when Japan entered the war, and returning ME Divisions were forced to bring Chevs onto the mainland. Most of these hatchless Middle East arrivals were promptly expelled offshore to New Guinea, but a small number gained permanent residence, and their hatchlessness can still be seen today:


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Noticeable in the convoy through Adelaide are two different colours, these being KG3 (indicating initial deliveries) and BSC 61 Light Stone (indicating repaint or later production). The British colour is much more yellow than ASC Light Stone N (as can be seen on NOS parts) and is evident as production colour on this roof under the head protection pad:


ex-ME Cab 12 roof BSC 61 Light Stone.jpg


Of course, while it can be stated with statistical confidence that this roof is of Chev origin, the possibility of Ford origin cannot be excluded entirely. We know of ex-ME F8 and F15 arrivals in '42, and there may also have been refugee cargo, as the AWM FAT might suggest. Furthermore it's quite likely 9th Div brought some Cab 12 Fords back in early 1943, by which time the F60L was plentiful in ME. Indeed, it would appear that F60L deliveries commenced early enough for the odd 7th Div unit to benefit prior to departure, notably Mobile Laundry as recorded here:

http://www.2nd7thcavalry.com/cobbforce/

"Cobb Force was our title, but we were drawn mainly from my own unit, 7 Division Cavalry Regiment, with attached people and vehicles from Signals, Medical, Engineers, Artillery - and even 7 Division Mobile Laundry. That ludicrous association came about because all the division's transport had been well and truly clapped out by hard Middle East service. The one exception was the laundry, and about a dozen of its vehicles in mint condition came to us complete with drivers."

Obviously such a gruelling expedition to the northernmost tip of Australia could not be contemplated in Chevs, and accordingly: "All vehicles were powered by the side-valve Ford V8 engine, and all had the four speed crash-type Ford truck gearbox except the utility".

Naturally it was Ford CMPs which carried all fuel and supplies for the two month trip: "we had to carry everything that we needed, and that meant a full load on the most important of the vehicles we took, the Canadian-made Fords built to British War Department specifications."

Needless to say they all performed marvellously, and when our intrepid expeditioners finally "stood on the very northernmost tip of mainland Australia and looked out over the sparkling waters of the Endeavour Strait", it is noted that "in the scrub around the nearby Somerset telegraph booster station were the 12 four-wheel-drive Army three tonners."

Perhaps I digress slightly but only to remind ourselves that Cab 12 Fords did arrive in small numbers from ME.


044339 COBB FORCE. 1942-07 TO 1942-09. ROUGH TRACK ON CAPE YORK PENINSULA..JPG