 |
 |
|
|
|
Other Information Pages:
After a period of absolutely zero Series 1 info, some photos and stories are emerging from "old 'n bold" ex-servicemen of the Australian Army...
According to archives, a series of vehicle tests were
carried out to select new vehicles for the AMF in the late 1950s. The
Army Design Establishment (ADE) went to work to prepare reports helping
to determine which vehicle manufacturer recieved the supply contracts.
The ADE files sighted to date refer to "Project V50" and/or "Combined
Services Vehicle Specification N° 3 of 19 June 1957." The dates of
the actual vehicle tests date from 6 May 1958 and the ADE evaluative test
process went on for over 12 months; eg., the Jeep CJ-3 report (finalised
and submitted by the ADE OC to AMF HQ) is dated June 12th 1959. The tested
environments were abbreviated as "hot-wet" and "hot-dry". Those references
imply the summer of December 1958 through February 1959 as being the make-or-break
trial when all the vehicle company exec's must have been more than a little
nervous. Big money was at stake.
Land-Rover's Solihull factory began turning out the new "Series 2"
(or "Series II") design in April 1958, ten years to the month after
the first public display of the Land-Rover in Amsterdam 1948. The new
model Series 2 of April 1958 had a new wider style/look (designed by
Rover's David Bache) and a new engine in the case of the long wheelbase
units. Until late June 1958 the 'Regular' 88inch wheelbase units were
assembled with the 2.0 litre petrol engines (55bhp @4000rpm) leftover
from the Series 1 production; the new 4 cylinder 2.25 litre OHV petrol
engines (77bhp @4250rpm) came onstream for the short wheelbase units
immediately after the older engines were used up. The new power unit
was a major improvement...
Information from a Australian Military Equipment Profiles publication
lists the Series 2 "Australian Army appraisal unit" as chassis number
142800001 - ie '142' is code for 'RHD Export' assembled at Solihull
('143' code would be RHD CKD) and '8' refers to the year 1958, s/n is
number '00001'. This Land-Rover was rushed from the Solihull assembly
line and transported by ship to Australia -ASAP- to be tested along
with other 4x4 ¼ ton vehicles by the Australian Design Establishment.
At this point I can't help wondering: did this first Series 2 unit
have a 2.0 litre or a 2.25 litre engine?
Having serial number '00001', I think its safe to assume Solihull built
it in April 1958 with the 2.0 litre engine installed..
Anyway, allowing for six weeks on the sea, that Series 2, the first
ever seen in Australia, arrived in Port Melbourne around the end of
May 1958 and was handed over for testing as soon as possible - by May
1958 the "Project V50 tests" had already been underway for a month at
the ADE 'TPW' bush circuit near Melbourne:
This 1958 'Regular' 88inch 4 cylinder Land-Rover, ARN 107-671 (Commonwealth
plates C67999), with it's English canvas top and transparent rear windows,
went on to win the AMF testing contest between five manufacturers for
the supply contract. Rover Australia was also obligated to follow some
mods and Australian manufacturing content required by the Government.
(More details
at ANZACsteel website). The delivery of CKD Series 2 ¼ ton
88inch and 109inch units from Solihull UK followed quickly: the earliest
arrivals were the 88inch short wheelbase units, as per Contract number
104337 (issued in November 1958). They are all dated 16.12.58 and were
delivered 'in-service' in early 1959. They were all CKD export models
with '143' prefix chassis numbers.
The earliest 'Long' 109inch units to arrive in Australia later on (newly
released as a Land-Rover model world-wide) were fitted as field ambulances
according to the latest research from Mike Cecil (author of Australian
Military Equipment Profiles):
The success of the Ambulance protoypes led to further variants being
built and the increase of orders for Land-Rovers. The variants to follow
were the mobile wireless stations (F.F.W.), the Fire Fighting appliances
and the Field Workshop units.
How many Series 2 units were supplied to the AMF? Well, the Land-Rover
Australia 50th Anniversary booklet and the LRA website quotes a
Series 2 total of 1,150 units. The same total was reported in the October
1999 issue of Land Rover Magazine. The December 1988 issue of
Overlander magazine states that the first Series 2 88inch was
delivered in March 1959 and that the first Series 2 109inch was delivered
in November 1959.
However, Australian Army Registration -provisional- data from the B.B.B.
shows that:
Air Force and Navy Land-Rover information has not yet been uncovered.
The December 1988 issue of Overlander magazine
states that the first Series 2A 88" was delivered in June 1963 and that
the first Series 2A 109" was delivered in 1964. It does not discuss the
numerous modifications made to the standard 2A design to suit AMF requirements.
Australian Army Registration -provisional- details from the B.B.B.
shows that:
The last or 'late' Series 2A 109" models purchased are dated
9/1971 with the headlights in the wings (same as Series 3).
The December 1988 issue of Overlander also provided a combined
total for Series 2 and 2A purchased by the AMF. It stated that the total
was 6,626 units supplied in both 88" and 109" types between "16.12.58"
and "9/71". Allowing for the fact that the Australian Army definitely
purchased some replacement chassis (for repairs), the Overlander
figure could be about right. The B.B.B. files, digitised between
late 2003 and early 2005 show a total of 6578 Series 2 & 2A Land-Rovers
purchased between "16.12.58" and "2/72".)
Air Force and Navy Land-Rover information has not yet been uncovered. 58 RHD 101's were produced between 1976 and 1978 by Land-Rover for the British Aircraft Corporation. The BAC supplied the Rapier Missile system to the Australian Army which was used by a number of units. 16 Air Defence Regiment were the primary users towing Rapier units, or rapier storage trailers. Vehicles also had rapier storage racks fitted in the rear of the vehicle. The RAEME Training Center and School of Artillery also had 101 Land Rovers. The secretary attended an early 1990's auction at Holsworthy Army Base in NSW to see the release of a smashed Perentie 4x4 ($15,500), 12 or so Series 2A / Series 3 109" units ($3000 to $4,000), and about 15 Forward Control 101" units ($9000 - $13,000 I think). At their release the 101s carried no Rapier parts and appeared as per G.S. "standard" (all had the front and rear operable PTO winch). Other units have been privately imported into Australia on top of this 58 units.
In April 1977 delivery of Series 3 Land-Rovers to the
Australian Army began. The vehicle's construction and mechanical specifications
were essentially the standard Australian 6 cylinder petrol 109" Land-Rovers.
The earliest Series 3 delivery we have listed is April 1977 and the latest
Series 3 delivery we have listed is March 1981. The total number of these
Series 3 six cylinder petrol units was reported in the December 1998 issue
of Overlander as being 2,280 (divided into 1,500 G.S. and 780 F.F.R.)....
The Overlander report proved incorrect when archived information
became available mid-February 2004. It turns out there were:
All Series 3 Military Land-Rovers were 109" wheelbase and all
with petrol 6 cylinder engines. Interestingly, no Series 3 Station Wagons
were listed. Wagons were imported fully assembled and didn't have much
to with the 'Assembly Line' as such... and no Series 3 Ambulances appear
in the L.R.A. info either. The Series 3 supply contracts were completed
by April 16 1981. The numbers of Landys rolling off the 'Assembly Line'
per day varied a lot; some days 6, some days 12, and some/most days
8 military Landys were assembled. The only other definitive variant
in the Series 3 lineup were some GS vehicles which were converted for
line laying duties, described as Fitted For Line (FFL).
he number of vehicles supplied to the Australian Defence
Force is a tad vague... One source of the muddle is that the R.A.A.F.
use Perenties as well as the Army. Another factor to cinfuse things is
purchases of what appear to be new SRV units in 2006, however these may
be refurbished 4x4 vehicles.
The original JRA press release circa October 1988 told of the
progress of the JRA contract to supply "2500 4WD units and 400 6WD units"
valued at roughly $130,000,000 (with local Australian manufacturing
content set at 50% for the 4WD and 60% for the 6WD). It also mentions
the Army had satisfactorily finished "several months of rigorous testing"
the Initial Production Vehicles ("IPVs") "supplied earlier this year
to various Army units around Australia" and that JRA had "attended to
the many points raised by the Army" and incorporated these improvements.
No mention of R.A.A.F. units.
.A small news piece in the May 1994 issue of Overlander
magazine tells us "The Australian Army has ordered another 270 Land
Rovers to supplement its present fleet of 3700 6WD and 4WD Project Perentie
models. The additional Landys, which were ordered under the terms of
"follow-on buy" options in the original contract, will be used as basic
infantry carriers, mainly in Australia's far north. [Norforce?] The
original Perentie Project was named after the desert-dwelling perentie
lizard and was aimed at finding vehicles with the perentie's legendary
agility in trackless terrain, its endurance, and its adaptibility. Project
Perentie director Lt. Col. Lee Osborne said, "It made sense to us to
continue with Land Rovers because of their advantageous life-cycle costs.
Over the life of the vehicle in Army service -up to 20 years or more-
the Land Rovers prove to be very economical." The photos accompanying
the piece are of two GS units, ARN 48-014 & ARN 48-016. No mention of
R.A.A.F. units.
A potted history of Land-Rover in Australia, printed in the January-February
1998 issue of Restored Cars magazine, quotes information
that the decision to buy Land-Rovers was made in "mid 1986" and that
JRA would, at the completion of the contract, supply a "final tally
of 2892 4WD and 588 6WD".
In March 2004 we heard that LRPV 6x6 units in Western Australia
have been getting general muscle transplants... (via the grapevine). In May 2004, when the majority of the Land-Rover 110 and Perentie fleet are exceeding 15 years 'in-service', and some people were thinking that some110 variants would be disposed of, the Army newspaper printed an interesting report and photo: ... [caption] A Land Rover 110 being rebuilt at North Bandiana: In January 2006, when the Iraq and Afghanistan deployments were in the news, one semi-load (3 vehicles) of an unknown supply contract for refurbished/reconfigured Perentie 4x4 110s were spotted being transported from the Adelaide contractor to delivery at the ADF's DNSDC Moorebank Stores. These vehicles are rather obviously for Special Forces, appearing for all the world to be a 4x4 version of the 6x6 LRPV. They were not new chassis. They were wearing late series ARNs. The engines fitted? That's not established, other being diesel of course. They were certainly more extensively equipped than the "Truck, Surveillance, Lightweight, Winch, MC2 [ Norforce, Pilbara, 51FNQ ]".
"Land Rover Australia has agreed to supply 33 custom
built Land Rover 110 vehicles for use by the Australian Army. The vehicles
will be built in Solihull, England, and are based on a Land Rover Defender
110 which uses the new 2.5-litre, 5 cylinder turbo-diesel (TD5) power
unit...
...the decision recognises the increased levels of reliability and
durability of a Solihull-production Defender 110, with the new TD5 power
unit."
2008 Update: 33 of these vehicles were bought by the Army in 2000, and a further 17 in 2004. They are slated as having a 10 year service life, which is significantly shorter than the Perentie that it serves alongside.
The navy's vehicel fleet have almost always been essentially civilian vehicles with Navy or commonwealth plates. Little or no information exists on any Navy Land Rovers, however photos are appearting here and there. From the late 50's through to the late 80's Navy Land Rovers appear to have been painted a Sky blue with a white roof. the same colour was available on the civilian market, but apparently only with a cream roof. In fact most navy vehicles of this time were painted this colour. Information came to light in 2003 as to the chassis number (and other details) of 80 inch land rovers purchased by the navy in the early 1950's. Interestingly a Tickford Station Wagon was amongst these purchases. More information as to these details can be found on the Series 1 ARN page. REMLR member Bruce Peelgrane sent in these photos of a Series 2 which he recently bought. Apparently it was used at HMAS Albatross as a slasher for the airstrip. The stickers inside are very similar to those used at military airstrips today. More photos and information can be found here. REMLR now has some information on RAN Land Rovers. you can find this information on the Series 2 RAAF and RAN Registrations page. The R.A.N. used some Series 3 109" Station Wagons. They were blue in colour. The blue colour looks like that used for many years in the 'Home market' Land-Rover wagons of both 88" and 109" types. R.E.M.L.R. has one pic so far. The wagon has the old Commonwealth Of Australia 'Z' plates (the Z character was red, the 2 other letter characters and 3 numbers black and the plate was white overall). Info is scant, and maybe after their port-side service in the salty sea air, they have all disappeared due to chassis cancer or wharfies. The Royal Australian Navy were the first with 110" models. "The R.A.N. has taken delivery of a number of new Land Rover One Ten four-wheel-drive utilities. The Navy Land Rovers are the first One Tens to go into service with an Australian Defence Force. "Land Rover has enjoyed a long association with the Australian Navy and, whilst the Navy does not buy in numbers as large as those of the Army, it nonetheless has been a staunch supporter of the famous British all-terrain vehicle. "The new Land Rover One Tens, painted in pristine Navy-white will go into service at major port facilities and will be used by Naval Police and will also be taken on board during naval exercises. "Navy personnel are reportedly very satisfied with the new coil-sprung Land Rover, highlighting the improvements to ride, general comfort, and performance. "With the sailors now sampling One Tens, JRA Limited awaits the outcome of more than one year of intensive testing of the new Land Rover in a bid to win the prestigious contract to supply both four-wheel-drive and six-wheel-drive Land Rover to the Australian Army as replacements for its current Land Rover fleet. Land Rover has supplied the Australian Army for more than 25 years." The accompanying photo was of a standard civilian issue One Ten truck cab utility without the County stripes. The only naval aspect is that the unit is parked at a wharf with a warship behind (Bush Driver magazine, May-June 1985) The Navy still uses a number of Defender 130 vehicles for the Clearance Divers. These vehicles are High Capacity Dual Cabs with a caged canopy over teh tup for carrying diving equipment and towing small boats. One such vehicle spotted by the REMLR administrator at Anglsea Barracks, Hobart, noted that the chassis howed significant surface rusting, presumedly because of frequent dunkings in the ocean.
If you can add any in-depth information or correct our guide you
are welcome to email REMLR.
ARNs
- AUSTRALIAN ARMY REGISTRATION NUMBERS
|
