Carrier photos in service

[ron]

Hi Matt,
Interesting to see the Shepards crook mounted on the front plate of the Aust carriers, I have not seen this before maybe a field modifacation,thanks for the pics, Regards Ron

[matilda IIA]

Hi

a few more for your intrest... I know its techinicaly .55-in, I have a couple ! , im just used to calling it "the 50cal", its sort of a nic-name we use when we go shooting........

I have the mounts, I will photograph tommorrow and post for your info.

Kind regards
Matt

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi Matt - not recorded in my database. However it was a 1942 SAR munufactured under Order MOS.146. BTW thanks for the image, another one I can hyperlink into my database, with your permission of course.

Bob

[matilda IIA]

No stress Bob, I beleive these photos should belong to the public .

I will post some of the armour photos, Looks intresting !

Kind regards
Matt

[Roddy de Normann]

Matt -

Lovely pics...I would be very interested to have any vehicle numbers from the pics...do you have unit idents ?

Brilliant

Roddy

[ron]

Hi Matt,
Great pics keep them coming I am looking forward to seeing the armour ones,
Regards Ron

[Jared Archibald]

G'day Matt and everyone,
I looked over the first set of images that Matt uploaded and was very interested in the last one of the series of five. Looking at the vegetation and the dress of the two crew I was quite sure that it was somewhere in the Top End -(northern end of the Northern Territory for all you overseas blokes) - where I have lived for the last 30 years. Images of carriers in this area during the war are few and far between so it was good to see.

I then read Matt's post to say that this carrier was #2573....... that rang bells and I consulted the list of remains I have inspected over the years in the NT. There it was - a few years ago I was given a right hand front mudguard that had been found in a wartime tip somewhere south of Darwin. It had the build plate insitu, along with a jack holder that had been bolted next to the light guard. The serial number on this plate is 2573!! The guard even has the same bend in it as in the wartime photo. In Matt's image, there is a water bag (?) on the right guard but above and below it can be seen the jack holder base and screw top. In a later photo featuring a bogged carrier and a dog, an empty jack holder bracket can be seen in the same position. At the right rear where this holder would normally reside is what looks like extra 2 gallon water tins - a must in the high heat conditions of the NT. It would seem that this was an unofficial field modification carried out in the NT to allow for the carrying of extra water. It is interesting to note that on the Australian 2 Pounder carriers the jack bracket was mounted on the RH front guard from the factory.

So, I would assume that carrier #2573 went to Japan as scrap in the early 1950s with most of the others that were sold off up here - but its right guard with build plate somehow survived. See the attached pics....