Australia Mystery 15cwt

[Tony Smith]

Originally posted by Keith Webb
Very interesting, Tony I have seen one other with the contract number and the date supports yours:

SM 2201 F15A441M 36830 F15A Cab 13 3G20006F 13.6.44 131527

The clue would appear to be the '421' in the data plate - could it be someone stuffed up and stamped an 'A' in there - because it is still stamped as '421' despite the 'A' and parts book reference.

Now that's an interesting thought. Under the bonnet of this truck is the faded paint showing the model/ year, faded to xxx?/1942, so I presumed that the data plate stamping was F15A 42, but there could also be something else there that's less distinct.

I had a look at some other Aust Data Plates from the same period, and yes some dingbat from Ford is adding a supplementary code. These plates are from 1 Army truck and 1 RAAF truck, so they are blameless in this instance.

"F60S 444" and "F60L 448". These are an abbreviation of the Canadian DND codes F-60444-M and F-60448-M.

The plate on the truck in this thread though still has an element of mystery, as it definately appears to be F15A421.