Impressed? Not very!

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Lang

The most important difference is our Constitution has specifically written into it that the Government may take property if in the national interest (in war time or to build major roads etc) but the owners must receive "fair and reasonable" compensation.

As mentioned above, Australians were paid very fairly for any vehicles or property taken during WW2.

It would be interesting to know if a blind eye was turned to property belonging to enemy nationals - I suspect it was and they got little or nothing - but they all returned to their farms etc after the war so were not robbed of their possessions permanently.

Lang

Very different story for those Japanese interned in Aust. See https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.../2/02whole.pdf

Australian born and/or naturalised people of Japanese descent were arrested and interned and lost their property and assets, businesses and jobs and often their families were split up never to be reunited, and then deported at war's end. Many Korean and Formosan (aka Taiwanese) prisoners, who were regarded as "Japanese" nationality when interned, were also deported at war's end although notionally they had been granted newly independant nationalities that were our allies.

This wasn't due however to a blanket policy regarding all POWs and Internees, it was related to another policy in force at the time, the White Australia Policy. This has popped up in another thread, http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=27908 . See the story BELOW the highlighted article in this link: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ar...eTo=1946-12-31

The White Australia Policy effectively excluded "undesirable types" from entering the country by legitimately setting impossible hurdles to gain entry to the country. One such method was setting an entry questionnaire "in a European language". If you were a "desirable type", your questionnaire might be in English. If you looked a little bit swarthy, or brown, or yellow, or otherwise foreign, your questionnaire might be written in Greek, or Estonian, or Basque. All fair and legal. Of course, you were asked first if you were proficient in any other languages. "Why, yes, I am a professor of languages at Calcutta University, and fluent in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Aramaic, Pashtun, Urdu and Hindi. I also know a little Mandarin and Japanese!" "Well, you're outta luck, Sport! Ya shoulda studied Gaelic Dialects of the 17th Century!" Entry denied.

Persons born in Australia to Japanese parents, or long term residents who had naturalised to British (Australian) citizenship, wwere stripped of their naturalisation, and on release from interment were declared Illegal Aliens under the WAP and deported to countries they had never known or knew the language. People who had in some cases lived in Australia for 40, 45 or 50 years before the war (remember, Japan was our ally in WW1), grown large families and sucessful businesses were sent overseas and never able to return, and their families never saw them again.

Perhaps most oddly to us today, the Japanese internees, either POWs, locals or civilians transferred here from the Dutch or French colonies of the South West Pacific generally thought they had been treated well and humanely by Australian Authorities.

It was a whole different mindset back then!

[Lang]

Tony

You are right that the Japanese were treated far more severely than European enemy nationals (White Australia mentality?) Fortunately, in the scheme of things there were very few of them.

Many of the European, long term Australian residents were released - particularly farmers - long before the war finished. This specially applied to the large Italian community even before Italy changed sides.

In most cases only the men were imprisoned (and often used as government labour force) leaving the women and kids to carry on. Those kids must have suffered hell at school from the Australian kids. Many women struggled but some did very well by hiring labour and Luigi had a better farm when he returned.

A sad business all around.

Lang

[Lang]

Re guns

Rob

The buy back did not include empty brass but lots of people brought in ammunition (for which there was no payment).

Robert

It would be interesting to hear what hurdles the re-enactors have to jump in various countries to take their automatic weapons to shows.

Personally I find the Australian gun laws far less onerous than many European countries. Sure we can not have automatic weapons (unless you are a registered collector with very strong security storage arrangements) but it does not stop you owning 100 rifles and guns of all other types.

I am strongly in favour of our historical ban on handguns. I can see no reason, apart from pistol club for anyone to own one. They are a completely useless weapon for any form of hunting and the self defence argument is a crock. They are the perfect weapon for criminals, violent domestic arguments and road ragers. If you took the hand gun shootings (we all concentrate on the rare high profile automatic long-arm massacres) out of the picture, North American incidents would drop by over half.

So, despite our much criticized gun control and the fact there are still millions of weapons - legally and illegally - in private hands we have one of the lowest gun death rates in the world.

I would love to drive a Ferrari at 250kph everywhere but accept that I can still get there in my pick-up at the speed limit and not kill someone along the way or be killed by someone else in a Ferrari.

Likewise I would love to go out and empty a magazine on full auto or plink away with a handgun. But I am happy to still be able to shoot pigs just as well without some nutter pulling a handgun on me because he has it in his glove compartment or pocket when I give him the finger as he cuts me off in traffic.

My opinion and others have theirs.

Lang

[Mike Cecil]

Blimey! This thread has taken a few twists and turns ... impressment during WW2 evolving into comments on internment, fast cars and modern/current gun control. Where to next? Views on the current Australian gay marriage debate??!

But I'll have a little say about Japanese Internment: the Australian Government had interned 4,170 Japanese and Thai 'enemy aliens' by July 1942, many having been transferred to Australia from places such as NEI and the Solomon Islands. They were interned at Loveday, South Australia, Hay NSW and Tatura Victoria. The Japanese Legation Staff were confined to their residence in Harcourt Street, Auburn, Victoria.

A 'trade' with the Japanese was arranged by the British Commonwealth in August 1942, exchanging 1,834 Japanese for an equal number of British Commonwealth internees. The Japanese included Minister Tatsuo Kawai and the legation staff in Australia. A total of 871 detainees were transferred from Australia, the remainder from the UK and India. The exchange was carried out at the neutral port of Lourenco Marques, (now Maputo in Mozambique). The cremated remains of the four Japanese submariners from the Sydney Harbour midget sub raid were also handed to the Japanese at the same time. The four urns with the remains had been placed under the care of Minister Kawai in Melbourne when he boarded the ship.

The transport City of Canterbury was used to ship the detainees from Australia, complete with a 77 man armed guard unit (the commander of which was eventually tried by court martial and found guilty for 'cooking the books' during the assignment, but that's another story!)

Although other exchanges were proposed with the Japanese, this was the only one the British Commonwealth was actually able to complete. The remaining 3,200-odd internees remained incarcerated for the duration. It is a very interesting story (but a long way from impressed trucks and motorcycles!!)

Mike

[Mike Cecil]

There was an interesting and extensive 'to do' list once a vehicle was impressed for Army use. For vehicles in Victoria (3rd Military District - 3MD), the vehicles were to be 'gathered' at the 3MD VRD - Vehicle Receiving Depot at Broadmeadows Camp. At that point, several things occurred in sequence, as per 3MD VRD Instruction No.12 dated 21 February 1942:

(1) check vehicle against forms lodged with vehicle: AAF S3; AAF G4; AAF TS4, pro-forma, VOL list.
(2) Check toolkit, and list tools and equipment required to make up the Vehicle Outfit List (VOL). Existing tools in the vehicle kit were to be shown in red on the list.
(3) Assign the ARN from the registration block of numbers assigned to 3MD VRD. Chalk this on the inside of the cab, and write on the forms accompanying the vehicle (see 1 above for forms)
(4) Provide AAB 20 Log Book and complete the AAB 20 part G5 (vehicle details in the log book)
(5) Prepare G14 for vehicle kit, fix label and key rings.
(6) Complete AAF G51 in black pencil (as allocation of vehicle to a unit is not yet known)
(7) Dispatch vehicle with completed AAF G4 to workshop section for repairs/refit. If work scope beyond section, allocate to Base Workshop.
(8) Upon completion of repairs, if vehicle requires tailgate and sides, send to Holden Motors in Ferrars Street, South Melb, for fitting (all tray type vehs were to have sides and rear gate fitted for Army use).
(9) Upon receipt of completed vehicle, Workshop section to repaint in Khaki Green No.3 dull finish, Army number to be painted on centre rear & each side of bonnet in white 3.5 inch block numerals.
(10) Place vehicle on Park ready for issue.

Simple, eh?

Mike

[Robert Bergeron]

This has indeed turned into a "speaker's corner " ..

[Lang]

Robert and Mike

You are right - although the drift is progressive and not completely out of left field.

I think things on the forum can get a bit anal at times with serial numbers, dates and whether the canvas had 3,789 stitches.

The vehicles and equipment are a part of a very big human picture and personally I like to read what that was as well. Inevitably it will contain lots of opinion which will be contradicted but we are all big people and the forum is full of really good blokes and a very civilised one compared to many others.

So long as we don't get into blatant politics or social media slanging matches (which the moderators will jump on anyhow) I get a much better picture of someone on the other side of the world by hearing of what he thinks on some related subject of common interest.

Lang

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

There was an interesting and extensive 'to do' list once a vehicle was impressed for Army use. For vehicles in Victoria (3rd Military District - 3MD), the vehicles were to be 'gathered' at the 3MD VRD - Vehicle Receiving Depot at Broadmeadows Camp. At that point, several things occurred in sequence, as per 3MD VRD Instruction No.12 dated 21 February 1942:

(1) check vehicle against forms lodged with vehicle: AAF S3; AAF G4; AAF TS4, pro-forma, VOL list.
(2) Check toolkit, and list tools and equipment required to make up the Vehicle Outfit List (VOL). Existing tools in the vehicle kit were to be shown in red on the list.
(3) Assign the ARN from the registration block of numbers assigned to 3MD VRD. Chalk this on the inside of the cab, and write on the forms accompanying the vehicle (see 1 above for forms)
(4) Provide AAB 20 Log Book and complete the AAB 20 part G5 (vehicle details in the log book)
(5) Prepare G14 for vehicle kit, fix label and key rings.
(6) Complete AAF G51 in black pencil (as allocation of vehicle to a unit is not yet known)
(7) Dispatch vehicle with completed AAF G4 to workshop section for repairs/refit. If work scope beyond section, allocate to Base Workshop.
(8) Upon completion of repairs, if vehicle requires tailgate and sides, send to Holden Motors in Ferrars Street, South Melb, for fitting (all tray type vehs were to have sides and rear gate fitted for Army use).
(9) Upon receipt of completed vehicle, Workshop section to repaint in Khaki Green No.3 dull finish, Army number to be painted on centre rear & each side of bonnet in white 3.5 inch block numerals.
(10) Place vehicle on Park ready for issue.

Simple, eh?

Mike

I am pretty sure I know where one of these impressed vehicles survives . A chap at Diamond creek owns a very nice unrestored 1940 Chev 15 cwt light commercial 115" wb with a wooden body fitted , the body has a GMH badge on it . I had the chance to buy this vehicle 20 years ago when it was at Kyneton , the local GMH dealer there had it for sale $6K . The motor in the chev has a DD rebuild badge on it and the chances are it's the original motor. I lost contact with the owner , wonder where the car is now ?

[Peter Samsonov]

My grandfather's motorcycle was pressed into service in the Red Army. He got a receipt, which entitled him to an equivalent motorcycle (likely a captured one) after the war, but unfortunately he lost it before he could cash it in.