F60L ARN 46660 Cab 12

[Ken Smith]

Thanks for your invaluable input Mike. Very interesting that the army was double checking their assets, but also nice from a historic point.

Ken

[Ken Smith]

Ok a bit more research. I searched loading instead of machinery and workshop on the AWM site, and I came up with a "DI" loading instrument repair vehicle.
I think it is probably "D1" not "DI" as there is a "Z1" loading vehicle mentioned elsewhere.
When I searched this forum I found that some Lindsay C60X machinery body types are C1, D1 etc. I know that it is a pretty big leap going from Lindsay body designations to Australian made machinery bodies, but surely there was a common designation for Empire armies.
I might add that the designation in the AWM book for my truck is "D" alone.
I just read on a bit further in the ARNs and I see that 58206 is a "D1" so maybe there are variations.

Ken

[Ken Smith]

I have had a bit of time to spend on the computer the last couple of weeks and decided to clarify some things with my trucks, ARN 46660 was supposed to have been purchased direct from the Cecil Plains aerodrome in 1946.

This has now been proved wrong as the AWM books show that it was bought by Ford from a sub park. I don't want to offend the fellow I bought it from by calling him a liar as he was very sincere in his efforts to help me have the history of the truck, and I don't doubt that they were the first owners, so I thought I might clarify some grey areas.

Did the army auction stuff to the public from local areas? It would make sense to have the people that bought the stuff carry it away rather than have to pack it up transport it to a depot and then auction it.

Would/could these local areas have been called sub parks for the purpose of a name?

Did the manufacturers send buyers along to lines of trucks and bid on them, or did they send buyers along to lines of trucks check them over then offer a price to the government for a batch, or did the government say, we have say 300 trucks in Brisbane do you want them? or you will purchase them.

My 3 cab 12 F60Ls were all purchased by Ford Motor Co from sub parks.

What I am getting at is could the previous owner have bought the truck from a Ford rep after a auction? I just remembered he told me all the wooden rails in his undercover pig pens, which he showed me came from the Cecil Plains auction.

Last question what would an army truck have been doing on a RAAF base anyway?

Cheers Ken

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Ken,

I have no doubt your man was telling the truth. To answer your questions:

Did the army auction stuff to the public from local areas? It would make sense to have the people that bought the stuff carry it away rather than have to pack it up transport it to a depot and then auction it. Yes, but it was the CDC who did the actual disposal after the equipment was written off by the Army, RAAF, etc.

Would/could these local areas have been called sub parks for the purpose of a name? Yes

Did the manufacturers send buyers along to lines of trucks and bid on them, or did they send buyers along to lines of trucks check them over then offer a price to the government for a batch, or did the government say, we have say 300 trucks in Brisbane do you want them? or you will purchase them. The middle answer is correct: the CDC's second stage of the disposals policy was to offer trucks back to the original manufacturer/supplier. The buyer would assess each vehicle and either make an offer per lot, or break the lots into sub-lots based on condition and offer on each sub-lot. Any vehicles rejected/mot purchased by the manufacturer/supplier, then auctioned direct to the public.

My 3 cab 12 F60Ls were all purchased by Ford Motor Co from sub parks. Quite normal disposal process operated by the CDC.

What I am getting at is could the previous owner have bought the truck from a Ford rep after a auction? I just remembered he told me all the wooden rails in his undercover pig pens, which he showed me came from the Cecil Plains auction. Yes: saved the Ford dealer moving them if he could sell them quickly direct from the Army lot within the specified contract time for them to be removed by Ford.

Last question what would an army truck have been doing on a RAAF base anyway? Redundant (even operating), RAAF bases and any other military bases of convenience were used to accumulate equipment for disposal, so there is every possibility that an Army sub-park (ie a base area away from the unit's normal operating base) was established there for the purpose of disposal by the Commonwealth Disposals Commission. Army accumulated the gear & wrote it off, turning it over to the CDC for the actual disposal process. CDC then disposed of it according to the three stage policy: (1) offer to other govt depts (2) offer to the original manufacturer and (3) offer to the public by direct auction.

Clear as mud!

Mike

[Mike K]

Colin Bell worked at Auto Surplus in Mitcham ( when it was owned by Hancock) . Colin told me he was a buyer for HEALINGS just after the war. Healings in Melbourne , were a business that sold a large range of stuff i.e. surplus vehicles and other gear. Colin said the best value auctions to attend were those smaller auctions held in remote areas. He said some trucks sold for almost nothing because they had a minor part missing i.e. a distributor had been removed . He told me Healings had Ford F15's or F15A's ? virtually new in CKD .

He mentioned his time in the army, he was a Lieutenant in a transport company . He said some of the chaps in his unit could not read or write and he would wrote letters home for them. Interesting guy, probably no longer with us.

[Ken Smith]

Thanks Mike,
A lot clearer than mud a can assure you. The gentleman I got it from is a well respected local farmer businessman who, obviously older still has a big input into his farming enterprise.
Your very clear answer makes the truck procurement fit perfectly with his recollections.
I thank you again for your input into this forum.

Ken

[Ken Smith]

The next truck I have been thinking about is the portee ARN 51720, this is more of a I wish I had asked the owner questions while he was alive, instead of assuming I knew everything.
The truck is quite nice I had always thought it was something special because the horn button has a very well made clip on cover over it, so assumed it had always been roofless. The truck was fitted with a 13 cab steel hinged side body ex RAAF, when I got it. I assumed that was the way the previous owner bought it from somebody in Sydney. The story was they bought the truck drove it to Dalby to their new farm job, it was good because his wife could easily get over into the back to look after the kids. It was their car for a number of years.

Over the years I spent a lot of time doing tractor repairs at the farm they eventually bought just out of Dalby, they had lots of interesting, but not interesting to me ex army stuff. One thing was an old rag top KB5 Inter which I used to repair for them, the body off that was lying over in their dump, the body was some sort of parts body with hundreds of little draws and shelves in it. It was made of wood and had deteriorated but was still restorable back in the 70s.

In the 80s when I was interested in stuff I picked up few things at the farm, such as a spare wheel ramp wasn't sure what from and the toolbox from the rear of a water truck.

Which brings me up to this week, I now know thanks to the AWM books that my truck was a portee and wasn't converted to a GS. I started looking over the portee photos on this forum and something got me thinking about the spare tyre ramp I found at the farm years ago. So down the back and sure enough I have the original spare tyre ramp from a portee with the retaining bolts still in place, where the wood has rotted off.
So now I am assuming that the truck came up to Qld with at least the front part of the portee frame still fitted, with maybe the RAAF body bolted on in place of the 2 pounder frame. They had quite a few kids and they would only have been little then, I think it would have been a job to get them to sit safely on the portee seat for that distance.

Why why why didn't I ask what was on the truck for the trip up, I did ask about the cab roof that's how I found out about child care in the late 40s.

The previous owner was ex RAAF having trained pilots on Oxfords and Ansons.
We drove the truck from the farm to my place and have had it in a couple of parades as well. It is stinking hot in a parade without a roof and I usually keep the doors on half open latch to let a little bit of cool air in.



Ken

[Ken Smith]

Good day,
Every year I put on a bit of a display in the front yard of the farm, nothing much, usually whatever will start on the day. This years line up included Albert the Ford C60L ARN 45818, Series 2a Landrover Binned + workshop trailer, Series 3 Landrover GS + 1/2 ton trailer, and my trusty Dodge WC21 + water trailer.
This year one of my grandsons had a sleep over so that he could help me put the trucks out, I like to have everything out by 7.30 am so that I can get cleaned up and go into town for the march. I had 3 grandsons in their school uniforms in this years march.
KenANZAC Day at Carlea 2018 (1).JPG

ANZAC Day at Carlea 2018 (2).JPG

ANZAC Day at Carlea 2018 (7) Albert the Blitz truck.JPG

ANZAC Day at Carlea 2018 (5.JPG