Help with identification of old Chev

Hi all, Can anybody help out with the identity of the chev in the photos. img717.imageshack.us/g/chevmrp06.jpg/

Regards Chris

Is that a Victorian registration and what is the engine/chassis number ?

No it's in SA and where do I find the numbers?

I have seen photos of these as "Lend Lease" Chevs. Australian (GMH) cabs with Chev chassis & panels, built between 1941 & 1947. A lot were army trucks.Someone will be more accurate than me.

It's a 4400 series Chevrolet truck, commonly known as a "Lend-Lease" Chevrolet in Australia. There is a last number in the model code that denominates the particular model, such as 4403, 4409, etc. It's an American-built truck which was shipped here, CKD (Completely-Knocked-Down) in a crate, between mid-1941 and mid-1945, and final assembly was done in one of the 5 GMH assembly plants.

Here is a very good discussion on mapleleafup.org about the Aussie Lend-Lease Chev trucks ..

www.mapleleafup.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12581

The story involving vehicle production in Australia .. is that, because Australia entered the War on Sept 3, 1939, the same day as Britain did, we struggled to build enough vehicles of our own between late 1939 and early 1942. We were basically on our own, the British couldn't supply anything worthwhile, and we couldn't afford to buy much off the Yanks. We already had a modest car and truck industry, but a lot of it was based on CKD work, and where bodies were built locally, body production was limited in output, because we used more labour-intensive methods than the Yanks, and we didn't have as much heavy pressing equipment as the Americans did.
Typically, we were still building wooden-framed car and truck bodies with rag top roofs in the early 1930's, because we had no presses big enough to press out a roof panel in one piece. The Yanks were producing all-steel bodies by the late 1920's.

When the Yanks declared war on Japan on Dec 7 1941, it became a whole new ball game.

During the late-1939 to mid-1945 period, the local major industrial plants such as GMH, Ford, Chrysler, BHP, etc etc, were all virtually commandeered by the Govt to produce war equipment. Commandeered is probably too strong a word, but the Govt took control of a lot of things due to the war emergency conditions, and vehicle production was one that was seriously affected. Prior to 1939, Australia imported a sizeable proportion of its car and truck needs, but a lot was built here, too.

As the war progressed between late 1939 to late 1941, things got increasingly desperate. The supply of imported vehicles dropped away to virtually nothing, as vehicle manufacturers in the U.K. went over to war production, and shipping was commandeered for war supply deliveries.

By late 1940, the Australian Govt had stopped civilian purchases of new vehicles, and the car factories here were churning out anything they could for the military, from what pre-war designs, pressings, and dies they had. Some quick military vehicle designs were knocked up in super-fast production time by the likes of GMH, with some utes even using ply for bodywork, such was the shortage of steel and dies.

The total local production was pretty dismal in overall numbers, but it was pretty remarkable, when you consider the crudeness of the factories in that era.
The fact that large amounts of women were pressed into factory work .. as all the healthy men were inducted into the forces .. and the fact that all these women had to be trained to weld, use machine tools, and factory equipment, means that its quite remarkable what these women produced ..

By late 1941, shortages in everything, for both civilians and the armed forces, were the order of the day. Vehicle shortages were a major problem for everyone .. and a lot of our front line soldiers were incensed to find German troops driving around in new Chevs, when our blokes were using any beat-up and cobbled-together crap that could be found ..

These American vehicles were purchased by the Germans off the Yanks, for cash, on a "cash-and-carry" basis, in 1940 and early 1941. This created a deal of anger in the Commonwealth countries, as America was very divided over who they should support .. or whether they should stay neutral.

Many local civilian vehicles and equipment were commandeered by the Australian War Dept, and were pressed into war use. If you had a good car, truck, or item of construction equipment, the Govt would just come and assess what you owned, and if your car, truck, or equipment wasn't deemed vital for war production or armed forces support, you had to hand it over.

From late 1939 to early 1941, we were buying what little we could afford, off the Yanks .. bearing in mind we had limited amounts of money, and the Govt had to try and find as much money as they could to run a very large war. Taxes were ramped up, and everything produced was diverted into war support. Probably 10% or 15% of what we bought from the Yanks never arrived, as the ships carrying the items were sunk .. mostly by U-boats. In the Atlantic, the losses were incredible, with about 30% of new American equipment destined for the U.K. and Europe going to the bottom.

In March 1941, we gained a lot of relief, when the Lend-Lease Act was instituted and passed by Roosevelt. This effectively ended selling of equipment to the Germans, and boosted our supplies of equipment, as America started to tool up for war.

Once America entered the War, they went on the same war footing as Britain and we were. Car and truck factories stopped producing civilian vehicles, and war vehicle production was ramped up. Truck production in particular was ramped up, and by the end of 1942, we were starting to receive vastly increased amounts of war materials in the shape of trucks, tanks, construction equipment, weapons and ammunition.

The Lend-Lease Chev trucks arrived here in large numbers from late 1942 to early 1945, with production really peaking in 1944. The design of the truck never altered from 1942 to 1947, after civilian production resumed in 1946, and new models, based largely on 1942 models, appeared.

In Australia, large numbers of the "Lend-Lease" Chevs were sold as military surplus, and I reckon nearly every farm has one. The "Lend-Lease" equipment and vehicles were supposed to be destroyed at the end of hostilities, but the arrangement wasn't carried out exactly as planned. Many "Lend-Lease" items were destroyed, particularly aeroplanes and Jeeps .. but most of the trucks survived. Many were in storage and many had low miles.

An arrangement was agreed to, shortly after the end of the War, for Australia to purchase all the American-built war equipment that was left in Australia .. either as "Lend-Lease" .. or what was owned by the Americans themselves.
This deal was haggled over for a while, with the Americans demanding a large sum for the items initially .. but after some haggling, they reduced the figure to only a small % of what it would have originally cost, probably about 5% of its cost. It was a real win for us, as most of the items were sold as military surplus, between 1946 and approximately the early 1950's, and many farmers and contractors got a leg-up with good cheap equipment, that set them up nicely for a jump-start after the War.

Thanks onetrack, just amazing how much valuable info there is out there.

Didn't the Lend Lease stuff generally have a capola (hatch in the roof)?

It's definately a 41 - 46 Chev truck, maybe a Maple Leaf?

weve been picking a few of these up lately and have one more to come there lend lease chevs but GMC,s are similar but better i think and have sutle differences such as stud diameter seems a few coming out of the woodwork lately one of the better looking trucks i feel
this is a GMC we picked up recently
http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz71/cribpointtowing/bedfordJ1GMCrecovery012.jpg?t=1273827184

Interesting as I'm currently working on a project that is based on a 1946 Maple Leaf.

Dunno how you'd tell from the outside my Maple Leaf from a "Lend Lease" truck.



Disregard the axles as they are from a later model.

Hi Chris,
You do have a 1942 lend Lease Chev with Stake Body Model 4409 one & half ton. The original Maintenance manual TM 10-1339 is available on the internet and also has a good pic of a 4409 (I will post an image when I work out how to). As described by others they were shipped from USA in parts and assembeled in Australia by Holden. Western Australia received about 300 (probably a Liberty Ship full of crates) and assembled in the Moseman Park Holden Factory. They were all used by the military or to support the war effort in the war economy. The military used both the Cargo Body (hinged sides with a canopy) and the Stake Body (flatbed with removable side rail sections). After the war most ended up in general transport or farms.
There should be a Holden Body ID plate on the firewall and a Holden Chassis plate on the passenger side rear inside of the timber tray rail on top of steel chassis (if still original tray).
Your truck appears to be in good condition to most I have seen. I am nearing completion of a restoration back to military (my father obtained it as a farm truck in early 1950s). The half ton, three quarter ton, one ton and one & half ton all had the same engine, cab, front, mudguards etc.. but with different chassis/running gear etc.. depending on size. The smaller pickups are very popular restoration and hot rod projects in USA so a lot of parts are available new online (see www.oldchevytrucks.com ). They have all the bits that are perrished or worn out.
I am happy to assist anyone with more information or restoration advice.
Regards,
Eric