RAAF Derrick Trucks

[Mike Cecil]

Interesting......

The '3 ton Engineers Lorry' is actually defined as the 'Lorry 3 ton 4x4-134"wb Winch' in the DND body book, body type codes 3A2, 3A4, 4H1, 4H3 and 4H5. These are an 'all steel 10 foot special engineers body having full length wheelwell seats along each side...'

Comparing the descriptions of the body types eg 3A4 (winch) and 3A5 (derrick), it appears the same base body is used for both the Winch and Derrick trucks, with the difference being the fittings etc required for mounting and stowing the derrick poles.

I notice that the Gregg Vehicle Data book (a repro of the March 1944 DND list) lists only the Derrick, noting that it has the capacity to be used as a recovery winch (without the derrick legs in place). Maybe by then the 'Lorry, Winch' was dropped in favour of producing one truck, ie the Derrick, which could do winching AND lifting, ie a more versatile truck? In any event, the body data book lists two sets of body identification numbers, so the Winch and Derrick trucks were clearly differentiated at some time.

Mike C