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AUSTRALIAN
TACTICAL SIGNS
Australian Vehicle Markings Part 1.
Click on the
thumbnail to view.
 For
some time I had been toying with the idea of doing up some signs used on
Australian Vehicles during the WW2
period, as I intend to finish my '44 GPW as used by the 2nd. Australian
Imperial Forces (2nd A.I.F.). There seems to be a plethora of information
about U.S vehicles and Markings, yet very little to do with Australian
jeeps, tanks, trucks, gun carriages etc. If here's a Tac. sign here you'd
like to affix to your vehicle, email me, and I'll send you the larger
version suitable for cutting a stencil. There's several books that have
been published on these signs, the worst being done by a British author,
all vary in some degree to the actual graphic used, which isn't surprising
, as there were differences in service as well. The most
obvious is the 4th Armoured Brigade with the Croc and Palm tree. In
 the
Australian War Memorial photo archives the Official Tac.Sign was
used on tanks, but on other vehicles the Aussie sense of humour (some say
distain for authority) seems to have taken the sign and altered it
to suit the occasion. After the War the official sign was made into a four
colour patch for use with 1st. Armoured Brigade, Citizens Military Forces.
Other Armoured Divisional signs were shown differently, like the 3rd.
Armoured Division, a mounted Knight on horseback, in some books
there's no lance, yet the horse and rider remain 
relatively the same. Another thing you'll notice with the graphics is the
primitive art work used, the main purpose being the ease of cutting a
paper stencil that could be applied in the field. On the 3rd. Armoured
Brigade sign, the knight and horse are detailed, yet the horses tail is
left as a mangle of lines. Some Armoured Divisions after the War changed
names and became Brigades, l ike
the 1st. Armoured Division became the 2nd. Armoured Brigade( CMF) and the
sign was changed from the plain white on a black ground to a Black on a
Golden yellow ground. Other Armoured Division, the 2nd., was disbanded and
the men and equipment dispersed to bring up to strength other Armoured
divisions and brigades.
Several months ago I received an email from Ian Fawbert in New South
Wales, knowing I had an interest in
 vehicle
signs pertaining to WW2, he forwarded me a rubbing he had done of a
marking he had found on the side of his '42 "script" MB, when I received
it I immediately recognized it as belonging to the Australian 5th.
Division A.I.F., but the boars head was different to what I had seen
before, The 5th. Division saw heavy action in New Guinea before moving to
Rabaul, where a photo was taken in 1946 and the boars head is different
again from the "official" image. It would appear that as the War
progressed the head was made more fearsome, and a red tongue was added to
enhance the plain white on a black ground,
 even
the tongue became longer, initially as a red patch inside the mouth.
Another thing noticed is that instead of the usual 5" x 5" square sign,
this later ones had no limit to the width, only the area available, shown
in this photo (31k) as fitted to the windshield sheeting of an unknown
model jeep in Rabaul in 1946.
For a brief history of the Wide
Bay Regiment, the 47th Battalion, Click Here
History of the 42nd Battalion - Ted
Harris Site ,
Click Here
-The History of these Divisions and
Brigades - from the top -
4th Australian Armoured Brigade,
formed in 1943, they saw action in
New Guinea at Buna, Finschafen, Torokina and Wewak, later in New Brittan
and Borneo.
3rd Australian Armoured Division,
formed in 1942, they did not see
action outside the Commonwealth of Australia, this Division included the
2nd. Armoured Brigade and the 1st.Motor Brigade.
1st.Australian Armoured Division, raised in early 1941 as a fifth
division of the 2nd.A.I.F. It was made up of the 5th.,6th.,7th.,8th.,9th
and 10th. Armoured Regiments. It saw action in New Guinea in the
Buna, Port Moresby and Milne Bay areas.
2nd Australian Armoured Division, formed in 1942 from the
2nd.Australian Cavalry Division, for a short period it was designated the
2nd. Australian Motor Division, disbanded to bring up the strength of the
1st. and 3rd. Armoured Divisions and the 4th. Australian Brigade. Disbanded
in April ,1943.
5th Australian Infantry Division, raised in Queensland in 1942,
from the 7th, 11th., and 29th Brigades. Actively involved in New Guinea
around Kouriatum, Bobdubi, Salamaua, Alexishafen, Hansa and Sepik Rivers.
Later removed to New Brittan, (See the Rabaul photo).
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