M38 Canadian

[David Dunlop]

John.

Best place to look on the sides is roughly centred below the door cutouts. The earliest stenciling will be in a large Roman Font. Later in life the Army switched to slightly smaller Gothic Font numbers. Sometimes, but not always, the CFR Number was stenciled in a small, Gothic font on a flat portion of the lower dash, or on the inside of the glove box lid.

For unit markings, check the rear bumpers if still present, or anywhere along the left and right rear rounded corners.

Army base colour was initially the factory OD Green, with the Roman fonts. The base colour went to a darker kind of black/green around the same time the Gothic fonts became common, later in service.

All of the above assumes the vehicle served in the Canadian Army. If it was RCAF issue, I have only ever seen them marked along the sides of the hood, either in RCAF initials or spelled out completely, but it could have Air Force markings in other locations. Early Air Force colour was very likely factory green. No idea when the RCAF adopted the colour blue on their vehicles, or even if that was a standard at all.

Might also be worth checking for Tire Pressure markings top dead center above the rear wheels. They show up there on some Army M38 CDN’s.

David