Lend Lease Studebaker US6s

[Mike K]

No expert on these US6's . But , I am pretty sure the US6's here in OZ were shipped out under lend lease towards the end of the war in CKD form .

Most of them were kept in storage in the CKD condition until the late 1950's and even into the early 1960's . When these US6's were sold at auction in the early 1970's , many of them had less than 10,000 miles on the clock . Many were in use with the CMF ( army reserve ) units in the 1960's . Of the many thousands of AWM WW2 pics I have perused , I have not seen one pic of a US6 in service with Australian forces in WW2 .

Gordon , the VC Dodge pic at the GMH plant was taken in early 1942 . It was among the first US vehicles to arrive in Melbourne with the U.S. forces . I have the GMH war history book here . GMH rebuilt many US army vehicles including DUKW's Jeeps etc.

The theory of rebuilt VC's being shipped out here is rather thin . There are no surviving VC's anywhere in OZ , none . Never even heard of one in 27 years of MV interest .

BTW . the VC is about my favourite vehicle .

Mike