THE
ONLY ONE LEFT
IN THE WORLD
(OR SO I THOUGHT)
By
Bob Moseley
In a previous article I wrote about a rare armoured car named
"Bandicoot" which I thought was the only one left
in the world. Well guess what? On a recent trip interstate with
other members of the South Australian Military Vehicle Museum,
I found the hull of a sister to the "Bandicoot".A
faded number on the rear bulkhead, 6281, identified her as "Porcupine".
After publication of my original article both
in the Signal and the Victorian "Mufti", I received
several telephone calls and letters containing anecdotes and
wartime photographs of some of these armoured cars. As with
all my articles, I was amazed at the photographs that came to
light given that photography was prohibited. Thank goodness
for the Diggers that disobeyed the rules otherwise we would
have no record of our military heritage.
Since the original article I have identified the
names of all 18 armoured cars. This was made possible both through
the letters I received and Mike Cecil, the Curator of Military
Technology at the War Memorial, from whom I receive much research
assistance.
The complete name list and their deployment is
as follows:
LP1
DD-220 "Corrobboree" which was nicknamed "Ned
Kelly" - 1st Armoured Car Regiment, Horsham, Vic.
LP2s
DD-221 "Billabong" which was based on Ford components
and DD-222 "Boomerang" which was based on Chevrolet
components - both to the 1st Armoured Car Regiment, Horsham,
Vic. However with Billabong, I received a photograph showing
her on exercise in 1940 at Glenfield, NSW that suggests either
a joint exercise between the 1st & 2nd A/C Regiments or
deployment to the 2nd.
LP3s
C-314 Crow, C-315 Curlew, C-316 Cockatoo, C-317 Stingray, C-318
Starfish and C-319 Snake - all to the 2nd Armoured Car Regiment
Ashfield, NSW.
LP4s
C-6278 Devil - unknown
C-6279 Dingo - unknown
C-6280 Bandicoot - probably 1st
C-6281 Porcupine - possibly 2nd as the hull was located in NSW
C-6282 Possum - 1st
C-6283 Pelican - unknown
C-6284 Wolf - unknown
C-6285 Wattle - unknown
C-6286 Warpath - unknown
