goanna Posted October 6, 2023 Share Posted October 6, 2023 (edited) A number of these arrived in Australia as 'refugee cargo' . Refugee cargo was equipment destined for the Dutch East Indies or British controlled ports such as Singapore , the Japanese had overrun these places, the ships at sea were diverted to Australia . Some of the Austins were issued to Aust. Army Ambulance Company units that were based in Melbourne ,Victoria and other locations i.e. N.S.W. The pic is of a K2/Y that was used around Melbourne by the 3rd Aust. Ambulance Car Company, it appears to have retained it's British number. I found a list of reg. numbers of vehicles issued to the 2nd Aust. Amb. Transport Company (based in NSW) in 1942. Interesting, the Austins are referred to as 'Indian type' this was the official Australian army nomenclature for this type vehicle. The Aust. army had many MCP type Ambulances, mostly Ford and Chevrolet and some Dodge and International 'Indian Pattern' . The red annotations refer to the disposals purchaser . 'Larke Hoskins' would have been a Austin car dealership in NSW. One K2/Y was sold to the Sydney Metropolitan Sewerage Drainage Board . The Disposals Commission had a policy of offering the surplus trucks to the various Government Departments, then next in line were the original manufacturer or their agents in Australia, then last in line , the public. Some disposals 'open' auctions were held in remote locations but the buyers had to transport the vehicles a long distance. Newspaper advert from a Melbourne soft drink business 1948. Travelling draper business for sale. Post-war scene in South Aust. possibly the Woomera rocket range. A surviving wreck that was found in NSW. Edited October 21, 2023 by goanna 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert condick Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 just an up date here the wreak has now being restored, these Ambulances (about 72) served with the 1AACC Queensland ,2AACC NSW, 3AACC Victoria, some maybe with the 4AACC South Australia. the ones in the AWM book were 2AACC NSW, and carried both Australian Army numbers and their original British Army number, the remaining Austin Ambulances carried the British WD no.(only) with or without the 'A' prefix, and served in the 1,2,3,4, AACC except for 2 in the 3AACC being registered as. AUSTIN 1 & AUSTIN 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goanna Posted October 29, 2023 Author Share Posted October 29, 2023 (edited) Brisbane scenes with K2/Y and a Ford GTB bomb loading truck. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C189286 Edited October 29, 2023 by goanna 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert condick Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 hi Cheers I have the DVD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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