AWM acquisition?

[Keith Webb]

The post on Facebook was one by the AWM from their official Fb page, shared by another Fb user.

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

I think, overall, the entry could be improved. Keith: who made the facebook entry (I don't access face-thingie....)?

Mike

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Here's what I wrote earlier:

Two things (1/2): "The unique shape was derived from a design to make the vehicle easier to decontaminate in the event of a gas attack" - where on earth did they get this idea?!? The back on the original Quad FAT was slanted because it had to carry the gun platform on the back and it could be slid on and off the sloping back easier than from a horizontal surface.

Two things (2/2): "This ‘beetleback’ arrived in Australia in 1942 as ‘refugee’ or ‘distress’ cargo; i.e. cargo that was at sea when the British and Dutch territories fell to the Japanese and had to be diverted to Australia" - was it really refugee cargo, or was it shipped back after doing service with the Australian Army in North Africa? For certain, it was not a diverted shipment to the Dutch East Indies.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Hanno,

As mentioned in my earlier post, the register entry states it was received as Refugee cargo. That generally means on a ship diverted to Australia in early 1942, to avoid areas that were already under Japanese control. So on their way to British units in Malaya, perhaps? Either way, the register entry is quite clear.

Cab 12 FATs were not provided to Australian units in North Africa until well into 1942, and those that can be traced to that origin arrived much later than the example acquired by the AWM. Moreover, where such tractors were brought to Australia by the returning AIF, most were not then transferred to the Australian register, and those few that were do not have the accompanying entry 'refugee'.

Like you, I am puzzled by the decontamination comment in relation to the body shape, and wonder at its origins.

Mike

[rob love]

Couldn't somebody ask on their facebook page what is meant re the decontamination? The masses need to know.

Personally, I do not venture onto that site.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Rob,

Give me a few days and I'll see if I can correspond about the tractor and the FB post by more direct means.

'In contact ....wait, out'

Mike

[Private_collector]

I'm only a poor dumb whitey, with minimal education, but do I understand correctly that this vehicle did NOT serve in Africa....at all?

[Mike Cecil]

'twould seem so from the information about his particular tractor that has come to light more recently. The majority of Cab 12 tractors that ended up in Australia were ex-North Africa, and arrived later. This was apparently one of a small group that arrived in the first few months of 1942.

Apparently the reference to the design shape is contained in a Mechanisation Board minute featured in Ventham and Fletcher’s Moving the guns : the mechanisation of the Royal Artillery, 1854-1939, p81. I don't have a copy of that book, so am unable to see exactly what was said, but someone on here probably has a copy. Learn something new everyday, eh?

Mike

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

As mentioned in my earlier post, the register entry states it was received as Refugee cargo. That generally means on a ship diverted to Australia in early 1942, to avoid areas that were already under Japanese control.

I believe in this case Mike the term is applied in a purely official sense, in accordance with Mech Circ 314 of April '42:

VEHICLES FROM REFUGEE SHIPS

"A number of vehicles of various types which have not previously been operated by A.I.F. Units, have arrived from overseas. These vehicles will be allotted numbers from a special block which has been reserved for the purpose, viz.: 50201 - 51000 for wheeled vehicles"

Cab 12 FATs arrived in numbers on 6th and 7th Div convoys during early-mid '42. As brand new vehicles taken on charge in Alexandria immediately prior to sailing, they arrived as "types which have not previously been operated by A.I.F. Units", thus falling under the heading "Vehicles from Refugee Ships."

Of course, some of these convoys were in fact diverted at sea, when Java and Sumatra fell, but that's irrelevant under Mech Circ 314.


Mech Circ 314 Numbering of Vehicles.jpg

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Cab 12 FATs were not provided to Australian units in North Africa until well into 1942, and those that can be traced to that origin arrived much later than the example acquired by the AWM. Moreover, where such tractors were brought to Australia by the returning AIF, most were not then transferred to the Australian register, and those few that were do not have the accompanying entry 'refugee'.

Again, this would seem to be in accordance with Mech Circ 314. That is, having been in service for some time, they were no longer "types which have not previously been operated by A.I.F. Units".

I'd be interested to learn more about these later Cab 12 FAT arrivals Mike. I take it they were 9th Div vehicles arriving in early '43...?