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A number of markings are often found on Army Land Rovers, some official and with meaning, others are more obscure. A range of these are described on this page. if you know the meaning of any markings mentioned here, or have more information about them, please contact REMLR.
We don't have a large listing of these ERN numbers and corresponding units, but we do know what they are used for. The christmas tree marking is added to identify what unit the equipment belongs to. These are normally used on deployments or exercises. On a Land Rover the marking is found on the wing / fender / mudguard just behind the front wheel. Only the first 4 digits of the ERN is printed on the vehicle. The final digit is not included. These markings used to be painted on, but recently have been replaced by stickers. However some colours can vary a little depending on the die in the sticker. It is somewhat like the bands on resistors in electronics, each colour represents a number. The ARMY and the Kangaroo are usually in a bright or Flourescent orange called International Orange. The apex triangle is only used for units where the Unit Serial Number is 2000 or higher. 1 Red Signal These are some units for whom we know their Unit Serial Number 1129 = 12 FD REG Other unknown ERN Numbers 2117 Along with the Unit Serial Number that you see that was used to deliver items to the correct unit, vehicles salso carried plates, commonly, incorrectly, described as Tac Plates. These Unit and Division plates appear Front and Rear on vehicles and designate the parent unit of the vehicle. Below is a table listing these markings, corps and USN where known. Whilst the list is neither complete or comprehensive, it is a work in progress, so if you can add any information to it please feel free to contact us.
On the doors of some vehicles belonging to Infantry, Engineering or Armoured units, a number of shapes are sometimes found. These are tactical markings and relate to which company or squadron the vehicle belongs. Troop, platoon or section numbers are to be painted inside or beside these signs. The letter H is to be used to denote the HQ of the Squadron or Company. In Engineering units the number indicates the vehicle's number. If it is a fraction, the first number is the Troop / Platoon, and the 2nd number is the vehicle's number within that Troop / Platoon. Diamond - HQ
It is not unusual to find other markings and names on vehicles. Things such as "Tasmanian Devil" have been found written along the wing of one vehicle, and Mr Walker with a picture of the phantom on the wing of another. This appears more prelavent on workshop vehicles than others, buit it is not limited to them. One REMLR member found the name 'Coma ~ Toes' II painted across the drivers side air vent. Armoured vehicles with names usually have names beginning with the letter of the squadron. For example, Bandicoot would belong to the B Squadron. And whilst vehicles like land rovers were not normally named, examples of this seem to appear. Known examples of the above include:
A number of logos and insignia have been found painted on vehicles. A Rhino belonging to an unknown unit has been found on a number of units. A Camel is another example that has been found, and according to it's ex members, it signifys a vehicle attached to 26 Transport Squadron. A stork with a baby was used by 158 Tank Transporter Troop Another is of a running emu, and belongs to 8 TPT SQN (SA). 3CER has a paw print (Dingo print) One other known set of markings used on Land Rover doors is the logo for the School of Armour at Puckapunyal in Victoria. The School's logo is a mailed fist over a boomerang, sometimes with the words School of Armour written on the boomerang. These are stickers and have been spotted on Perentie 110 FFR's as well as discovered on a Series 3 FFR's. |
The
"Chistmas Tree" markings are 4 horizontal bars which are shaped
to make a pyramid, accompanied by a four digit number, a Kangaroo and
the word ARMY. The colouring of the bars in the tree represent numbers,
the same numbers which are found with the tree in fact. This number
makes up part of a unit's Establishment Registration
Number (ERN). This is also called a Unit Recognition Mark (URM). The number is the Unit Serial Number (USN). Originally these bars were all the same length and made a more rectanglar shape like a vertical barcode, but at some point it changed to the triangle, or "Tree" that you see today.
