Back to the Track

OzFury

U got a choice
<A> Keep m there for good

<B> Send m home n never to return

Us Mexicans send all our riff raff North

LOL

cya

A busy day for the Transport Section, Northern Territory Force at the 57 Mile, Stuart Highway near Darwin, July 1944


Convoy personnel boiling the billy during a break and their Ford F60L Type 12 Cab Blitz trucks on the North South Road somewhere in Central Australia. (State Library of Victoria).



A good series of three photos
Looks a bit heavy


Is that tray bending?


OOPS!

International prime mover with McGrath trailer, a widely used configuration used on the Alice Springs to Larrimah transport convoys. North South Fords, hundreds of which were produced and named for their use on the North-South Road and also fitted with McGrath trailers can be seen in the background. These semi-trailers had a capacity of 7 ton compared to 3 ton capacity of rigid trucks in use at the time. 1942. (NT Library).


The 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion, United States Army, has featured in an article in the Katherine Times newspaper this week to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the bombing of Katherine this Friday, the 22 March. The image shows U.S. Army personnel filling a water tank in the Katherine River, 1943. (AWM).




At the very beginning they had to grab any available vehicle in Darwin

Lang wrote:

Whoopee we are on the road heading for Mount Isa and Tennant Creek.

You're nearly there Lang, that looks like Bramble Bay in the background.

Correct. Only 3,032 kilometres to go to get to the start!

Safe travels and enjoy, Lang.

Why are they carrying vehicles in the semi trailers? Seems Irish to me.Were the Yanks crocodile proof or no crocs in the Katherine River?

The vehicles in the semi trailers all look damaged to me.

No. All the freight went by rail to Alice Springs then was loaded on trucks to be taken 1200km to Birdum south of Darwin to be loaded on the short distance railway into town or some of the trucks went all the way.

Once in Darwin they had to get the trucks back to Alice Springs for the next load hence the piggy back system with two trucks and two drivers to speed things up and save fuel.

Most of the Fords had their front guards and bodywork removed and looked like wrecks when they were new.

lang

They have allowed more modern vehicles to come to trot along at the back. Here is someone leaving last night. Wonder if he is taking his dog. Seems silly to leave it at home guarding an empty house!