Australian International K5

[Ron King]

This pic shows assembly of K4 ??? Inters........note canvass roof and locally made doors.
I guess if at that time of the war the doors were not supplied with the imported knocked down truck we made them or did a cut away door less cabin.
( I guess it was done that way to save time of manufacture at the parent plant and tooling and metal press wear and the fact we often fitted locally produced bodies to imported grills and bonnets etc before the war at most large car dealer ships in Australia.)
Some inters appeared to be imported with full cabins and doors too.
We worked with what we got in the time frame advailible.( the japs were coming )
I believe the pic was taken in Sydney.

[Ron King]

Also note the International brand name was fitted to the bonnet on either side.

[Matt Austin]

Thanks Ron, that photo gives great detail. The vehicles pictured are quite like mine, in roof profile, door shape, and general layout. It appears that mine has a different contour to the bottom edge of the wheel arches, and a rolled edge.

This pic is also interesting, given the wheels. I wonder what size they are?

I'm also fortunate in that all of my badges are still in place.

I visited the truck this afternoon, and took a few more detail shots of the remaining metal fittings, to get a better idea of what I'm working with. Loops down the side seem to suggest that it had drop sides, while the fittings on the forward bulkhead are largely intact.

The first pic shows one of the remaining uprights. It appears to be fabricated from channel, chopped and welded at the bottom. Those square nuts are interesting!

The second shot gives front wheel detail. Are these wheels like anything else out there?

The third shot has another quandry. The four rubber blocks between the glovebox and the instrument cluster, around the ignition lock mechanism, have me puzzled. Two are gone, but I can't see what they might've been used for. Someone mentioned rifle brackets, but I can't work out how that'd work. If these trucks did indeed have somewhere to rest a rifle, then I'm in luck, as I've collected Lee-Enfields for years!

Thanks again, and cheers!
Matt

[Matt Austin]

Another win tonight. I'd never been able to open the passenger door, so I hadn't had reason to look at the floor between the seat frame and the door. Just happened to look, and saw the data plate.

I'm guessing that 233 refers to the 233 Green Diamond engine, as against the 214 Green Diamond. 159 is the wheelbase in inches. Pity there's no date.

Last year, I found the same chassis number on the chassis rail, and passed it on to Mike Cecil, who very kindly looked it up for me. Thank you, Mike.

Mike noted the following;
IHC Model K5, 159 inch wheelbase, 10:50x18 tyres; chassis number 25146; original engine number GRD233-34411, GS Lorry, Army registration number 43362. Sold to IHC per SAN959 (undated, so most probably end of war).

Fascinating. I have my work cut out for me!

Cheers,
Matt

[Matt Austin]

Not long ago, I spoke with the family who passed the truck on to me. I filled them in on what I'd learned, what little I've done since receiving the truck, and plans for its restoration, particularly in light of visiting Corowa. I was invited to come and have a chat about it all. Turns out that the family are delighted that something is being done with the truck. They had an idea that they'd like to have restored it, but time was an issue. So they're delighted that I'm restoring it, even if it is to the condition that it was in before it was bought by the family.

When I was there, I was given a copy of the book pictured. The memoirs of Arch Hillyer are a fascinating read. Born in the UK in 1917, he came to Australia during the Depression. He served throughout WW2, enlisting in the RAAF weeks after the outbreak of war. An airframe fitter, he ended up in the islands with No 5 Squadron, on Boomerangs. After the war, he moved to Junee, 'learning how to be a farmer'. He passed away in 2008.

The following extract from around 1946 is of particular relevance;

"One morning, a contract shearer arrived at the shed, driving a 1942 International truck, one that he had purchased at a recent Army surplus disposal sale. There were lots of these going on around the country. Some people got real bargains. At a sale in Alice Springs, a man bought a covered-in truck cheaply and when he later pulled back the covers, it was full of new motorbikes... Well, back to the Inter truck. My boss liked the look of it, and by nightfall he was the owner. He gave ₤200 and his old truck for it.

New cars and trucks, even tractors, were unattainable after the war, and it was some years before these became available to the general public, so we were elated that we had a larger and newer vehicle. The International was fitted with large balloon-type tyres used mainly to travel over sand. I remember taking it to Illabo railway siding with a three-tier load of wool, and it seemed very unstable. I thought that at every corner, it was going to tip over on its side. Also, the tray was much higher than usual. With harvest coming up...we had to make some adjustments. We removed the big tyres and replaced them with duals on the rear wheels, and this lowered the tray. With a new mechanical kicker fitted, the truck was ready for the harvest, but the gears were not quite right, and it didn't like hills nd it was painful to drive to Junee silos, which I did often."

There are other stories of the truck, and a couple of photos, including the attached pic of Arch and his mother Alice, with the Inter as a backdrop. It's really very interesting, as it gives a human element to what is otherwise just a machine. I've spoken with the family, and they're happy for me to restore it to its military state, but they're delighted that I've asked if I could make a display board, telling the story of Arch and his truck.

It fascinates me, that's for sure.

Cheers,
Matt

[Howard]

Awesome. It doesn't get any better than that!

[Matt Austin]

Thanks Howard. Yeah, it's great, and it adds a whole new dimension to the story.

It's interesting, I don't think I'd have had the chance had it been a Blitz and not an Inter. I understand that a number of CMPs have been rescued from around Junee in recent years, and the location of the truck, on one of the main roads into Junee, means that many have seen it, but nobody has been interested enough to pursue it.

I'm happy that this is the case, and it gets more interesting by the day.

As an aside, does anyone know if Croker Tire has an Australian agent? At a pinch, their bar-tread DUKW tyres should fit. It might also be worth seeing if I can find two more 18 inch split rims, if the DUKW tyres are an option.

Cheers,
Matt