Differences between Bedford OYC and OYD

[Richard Farrant]

Hi Matt,
It is quite possible your OY came in after the war. The weapons testing in SA brought a number of British Army vehicles to Australia and some still appear over there, both 40's and 50's types. The OY remained in British army service right up until late 50's and possibly longer as I recollect in the mid 70's in the army workshops I worked in we had a batch of OY engines to rebuild.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Matt,

I think we got our wires crossed a little: I remember letting you know that I have record of OYs in RAAF service in Australia during WW2, which is consistent with your comment that some may have been landed as refugee cargo from the 'Empire Star'. Many of the 'Refugee cargo' vehicles were absorbed by the services, and an orphan like the OY would most likely have gone to the RAAF or RAN, given their small numbers, and given that the RAAF already had a small fleet of Bedfords, that service would seem to be the logical recipient.

Mike

[Lynn Eades]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Hi Matt,

that service would seem to be the logical recipient.

Mike

Mike, Thoughts loaded with scepticism flow freely in my head

[mlombard]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

Mike, Thoughts loaded with scepticism flow freely in my head

Hi Lynn your right, there is apparently some archival material in Canberra on the refugee cargo that Australian authorities initially impounded then disposed of, via a committee set up to deal with wartime shipping. It would seem that in the days and weeks following the fall of Singapore, ships were turning up all over Australia, but mainly Fremantle not only with human cargo, but their holds still full of war materials, which needed to be offloaded, and I assume replaced with food stuffs, before being sent back to, mainly the UK. So given the situation the authorities found themselves in and the desperate need for war materials in Australia, they requisitioned them and then passed them out to the various services such as the RAN and RAAF. It is known that the MV Empire Star arrived at Singapore with RAF ground units but was unable to unload fully, and by this stage Singapore was the only Allied position with reports that it's streets were awash with vehicles used in the retreat from Malaya, so possibly the priority would have been other cargo, food and ammo unloaded first. There is a photo on the net of the MV Empire Star sailing to Batavia or Australia still with trucks as deck cargo. Yes I agree that there is a degree of threading the story together, but it is pretty certain this Bedford OY is a mid 1941 production as it lacks certain features of the later OY's such as roof hatch etc, but has other features which indicate it is not early production either such as hubs for split rims on the front and the handbrake mechanism is not the early one. It all interesting stuff this.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by mlombard

Yes I agree that there is a degree of threading the story together, but it is pretty certain this Bedford OY is a mid 1941 production as it lacks certain features of the later OY's such as roof hatch etc, but has other features which indicate it is not early production either such as hubs for split rims on the front and the handbrake mechanism is not the early one. It all interesting stuff this.

Hi Matt,
I think you will find that roof hatch, or cupola was not added until late 1943. Does it have sling plates on the wheel hubs? The engine number that Rick C quoted sounds like a 43/44 build, also noted it appears to be painted black, in the event that it had never been overhauled this could be the original factory finish.

[Mike Cecil]

That late production would be interesting, Richard, and would throw a whole different perspective into the deliberations.

There are a couple of OY vehicles on my list with chassis numbers in the OY76XXX range which were undoubtedly acquired during the war (not post-war), but there are also are a bunch of OYD in the OY50XXX range that are certainly earlier acquisitions. Where does OY50XXX come in the production chronology? Might not be relevant to Matt's truck, but interesting from the perspective of the 'Empire Star' and possible refugee cargo.

Mike

[mlombard]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

That late production would be interesting, Richard, and would throw a whole different perspective into the deliberations.

There are a couple of OY vehicles on my list with chassis numbers in the OY76XXX range which were undoubtedly acquired during the war (not post-war), but there are also are a bunch of OYD in the OY50XXX range that are certainly earlier acquisitions. Where does OY50XXX come in the production chronology? Might not be relevant to Matt's truck, but interesting from the perspective of the 'Empire Star' and possible refugee cargo.

Mike

Hi Mike what you have said is interesting in light of what Richard wrote later OY76XXX would appear to be 1943 production whilst OY50XXX would appear to be around 1942, and these would still be too late for refugee cargo, I think. I'm trying to source a copy of Bart's book on Bedfords which I assume is the one Richard is quoting from. I know some oddball vehicles such a Morris 15cwt came back with the AIF from the Middle East, but after that I assume all war material came from the USA or Canada, not really the UK, and half a dozen or so OY's would seem odd to ship here unless they had something special mounted on them. However if these OY's (both OY50XXX) and OY76XXX) were WWII veteran brought out for use a Maralinga and Woomera then yes that makes sense. Maybe I should run a gigarcounter over the truck!

[mlombard]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

Hi Matt,
I think you will find that roof hatch, or cupola was not added until late 1943. Does it have sling plates on the wheel hubs? The engine number that Rick C quoted sounds like a 43/44 build, also noted it appears to be painted black, in the event that it had never been overhauled this could be the original factory finish.

Hi Richard, no there are no sling plates on the front hubs. Not sure about the engine, but think that Rick Cove would be the man to ask,

[mlombard]

Hi here's some additional information I got from a chap in the UK, called Peter Mason who has a OYD and seems to know a thing or two about OY's

Early Bedford OY's
Civilian type front hubs with thin rims and tyres
Different Bush Bar
Cast Hand Brake lever
Different dash
Different instruments
Bellows type air cleaner

Late Bedford OY's
Roof Ring
Lifting Rings on Hubs

He quoted chassis no.'s 59680 to 77820 were 1941 production and this would put mine if it was chassis no. 73076 as mid to late 1941, but remember this is only going off the engine no. which rick has given, so the question is did chassis and engine no's line up, this may or may not be the case. I guess the key is to know the chassis no which I'll have another look for, and then to know the production sequence.

[mlombard]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

Hi Matt,
I think you will find that roof hatch, or cupola was not added until late 1943. Does it have sling plates on the wheel hubs? The engine number that Rick C quoted sounds like a 43/44 build, also noted it appears to be painted black, in the event that it had never been overhauled this could be the original factory finish.

Now I know how to load a photo here's the hub.

[mlombard]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Hi Matt,

I think we got our wires crossed a little: I remember letting you know that I have record of OYs in RAAF service in Australia during WW2, which is consistent with your comment that some may have been landed as refugee cargo from the 'Empire Star'. Many of the 'Refugee cargo' vehicles were absorbed by the services, and an orphan like the OY would most likely have gone to the RAAF or RAN, given their small numbers, and given that the RAAF already had a small fleet of Bedfords, that service would seem to be the logical recipient.

Mike

Agreed, and there is an indication that the one(s) at Sale may have been tankers, so OYC not OYD possibly, unless the vehicles were converted locally to tankers from GS trucks, which could have been possible.

[mlombard]

Originally Posted by mlombard

Agreed, and there is an indication that the one(s) at Sale may have been tankers, so OYC not OYD possibly, unless the vehicles were converted locally to tankers from GS trucks, which could have been possible.

Sorry my mistake, you did not say Sale, but there is a possibility that, give that the truck came from the Gippsland area, that it had served at Sale with the RAAF