Photos of an old abused veteran

[cliff]

I think the photo below is of the 43 cab. Whole unit was known as an F60B - the B standing for bofers. Not used by Australia.

Two other models not mentioned yet in the CMP lineup for you Lionel is the C60X, a 6X6 chev version and the F60H a 6X4 version with a lazy non driven extra axle at the rear. The C60X had a 13 cab on it and was used here in Australia but the F60H is not known to have made it to Australia and the photos I have seen show it with an 11 and 12 cab fitted.

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by cliff

I think the photo below is of the 43 cab. Whole unit was known as an F60B - the B standing for bofers. Not used by Australia.

Two other models not mentioned yet in the CMP lineup for you Lionel is the C60X, a 6X6 chev version and the F60H a 6X4 version with a lazy non driven extra axle at the rear. The C60X had a 13 cab on it and was used here in Australia but the F60H is not known to have made it to Australia and the photos I have seen show it with an 11 and 12 cab fitted.

Yes the F60B was for Bofors. Another obscure Ford was the F60T, a 115" wheelbase tractor for trailers.

The F60H appeared with a cab 13 as well as can be seen on page 248 and 249 of Bart Vanderveen's excellent 'Observers fighting vehicles directory' as both a Breakdown version and Folding Boat Equipment.
Another oddity quoted by Bart on page 249 was a 'Truck, 3-ton APT w/winch GM/Chrysler' fitted with a Chrysler 8 cylinder engine, 5 pilot models built including FAT of which there is a picture available. The engine was quoted as a 323.5 CID sidevalve.
Australia also produced an interesting one-off experiment when we created a half track based on a C60S and carrier components. It was not a success.

[Lionelgee]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

Yes the F60B was for Bofors. Another obscure Ford was the F60T, a 115" wheelbase tractor for trailers.

The F60H appeared with a cab 13 as well as can be seen on page 248 and 249 of Bart Vanderveen's excellent 'Observers fighting vehicles directory' as both a Breakdown version and Folding Boat Equipment.
Another oddity quoted by Bart on page 249 was a 'Truck, 3-ton APT w/winch GM/Chrysler' fitted with a Chrysler 8 cylinder engine, 5 pilot models built including FAT of which there is a picture available. The engine was quoted as a 323.5 CID sidevalve.
Australia also produced an interesting one-off experiment when we created a half track based on a C60S and carrier components. It was not a success.

G"Day Cliff and Keith,

This CMP stuff just gets more and more bizarre. Just when I grasp a little of the Cab 11 – 12 & 13 differences I am informed that it went up to series 43. I have picked up from you two blokes and other contributors to MLU that there were variations between nationalities that assembled CMPs. So you could have a generic Cab 13 pattern yet there would be differences between the Canadian versions, and the Australian and the New Zealand version; plus some were assembled in Russia. Also that Ford chassis are longer than Chevrolet chassis. This bit puts the mockers on some article I read which said chassis were fully interchangeable between Chevy and Ford. Also now Cliff adds in the information Dodge had a little foray into CMP land. I do recall that there were prototype models before the series 11 cab so I have not forgotten about that bit on CMPs on MLU.

So to clarify, or confuse the issue further – what series CMP cabs were used the most by ANZAC forces in WWII and you could expect to find sitting in a paddock in Australia today? Cab 11 + Cab 12 + Cab 13 what comes next?

As a further challenge what percentages would you expect to find of these different series cabs in Australia; as in, which would be the rarer ones to find in an Australian paddock today? Forgetting of course the continued clandestine boarder raids that are going on!
Cab 11 = %
Cab 12 = %
Cab 13 = %
Up to Cab whatever series used by Anzacs and found in Australian paddocks

My final thought is none of us are getting any younger and there is such a store of information that blokes like Cliff and Keith and many more very knowledgeable contributors to MLU are carrying around in their heads. It also seems like the Dr Grigg (or spelling like that) was one of the rare types who wrote a book on CMPs. It would be great if there was a definiative ANZAC CMP and to a lessor extent MCP book written here in Australia. Also the youngest CMP which saw in the final days of the war would be 64 years so paddock stock is reaching its use by date very rapidly. Such a book would also be invaluable to people like me who stumbled into Military vechiles by sheer accident.

If I could help any one out whose interested in getting such a book together please let me know. After the end of the year as I want to get my PhD out of the road first.

It still all boils down to one thing... That Mike Kelly bloke has a lot to answer for! It all started with just a simple statement in an email that he sent me - "have a look at your truck and see if there are any army markings on your truck". Oh the loss of innocence by such a simple action. It also meant that I was unleashed on the MLU forum to annoy everyone.

Kind Regards
Lionel

[cliff]

Mate I ain't gonna bother with percentages etc. I leave those sort of things to students and bofins who have a lot of spare time in which to work the buggers out. But....

Rarest of the rare....Cab 11 either make but especially Ford here in Oz. I saw the remains of a Chev one go through the crusher at Ken Hughes at Kingaroy a few years ago. A lot of people must have looked at it and thought it too far gone or to expensive for what was left of it. Max Hedges here on MLU has a Chev 11 cab at Yass, NSW. New Zealand seems to have the remains of mainly very early Ford 11 cab trucks...the one's with no front vents.

Cab 12 becoming rarer as they are older and had more weak points especially in the windscreen frame then the Cab 13 plus were cramped in the cab department making them harder to drive. Most of these returned home with the troops from North Africa so saw war service in the desert. Most were issued to our troops by the British then 'onsold' to the Australian Government

Cab 13...good one's becoming hard to find but you are more likely to find these as they had more cab room and were easier to drive because of it. Some remained in service till the 1960's with machinery and special type bodies on them. Most were sold direct to Australia and were assembled/built here at several different locations, especially Chevrolet with plants at Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to my knowledge.

Hardest piece to get for all models...the original type rear bed/body/decks or useable remains there of.

Rarest complete model of them all the gun tractor versions whether British/ Canadian or Australian in all cab models and either Chev or Ford. Most had the rear boddies cut off to make them flat decks for the carriage of hay etc. Then I'd say the Chev C60X, 6X6 would be ralatively rare as well as not many were purchased. No Ford F60H, 6X4's are known to have come to Australia. Rarer then normal are the vehicles fitted with a genuine CMP winch as only a certain percentage (that bloody word again ) had them. Here in OZ you are more likely to find a 13 cab 15cwt 4X4 or a 60cwt (3 ton) 4X4 long wheel base as these were used as the General Service (GS) trucks and there were more of them originally.

Don't look for an original Dodge prototype CMP because as I said elsewhere only one photo of it has ever appeared and if one of our Canadian members even knew where one was we'd either never be told or they would crow about it forever

Now can you remember all this student Lionel?

[Keith Webb]

The story as far as I know with cab 12s here is we ordered Ford F60L cab 12s and these were assembled in Australia. The Chev cab 12s are the ones which came back from North Africa along with some very interesting other vehicles such as Guys, Fordsons and so on.
The way to pick an Australian delivery Ford cab 12 is ours all had a roof hatch.
The weakness in the cab 12 is not the windscreen frame but a piece of timber which joins the windscreen to the roof which fatigues.
As I have mentioned before what makes the Australian Chevrolet CMP unique is the fact the entire cab was built here.
Kiwi CMPs had locally made roof hatches but were otherwise direct Canadian versions and in most cases the rear bodies were locally made.
The most common cab 11 here (relatively speaking as there are very few) is the C8, although I have seen C30 (Max's) and F60L
As to what can be found in paddocks the most numerous will be cab 13, both Ford and Chev. The most common wheelbase is the 158" with the 101" next common. There were fewer 134" or 160" (C60X).
And depending where you find them you may be surprised at just how good they are, especially in the drier more remote areas of Australia. And there are still lots waiting to be discovered in farmers sheds across the country.
I'm sure I'll think of more soon...

[Keith Webb]

The other thing was to say how good it is to have another CMP devotee.

[Lionelgee]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

The other thing was to say how good it is to have another CMP devotee.

I think it is some form of chronic condition. There should be health warnings posted on this site. Particularly towards the feeble of mind like me; also the infrequency of being able to get to the MLU site makes the addiction worse. Random rewards are supposed to be the most addictive. I will just try and see if I can get on Yes! you beauty! next time

Kind Regards
Lionel