Earlier in the month I quoted a slab from the accounts of the Det 1 Topographical Survey Troop in Nui Dat in 66-67.
Their colour stripes were mentioned here:
quote:
MAY 1966
My diary tells me that our Detachment returned to Sydney on Sunday 1 May [after] departing Canungra...
During our time at Canungra much of our Q Series stores had arrived [at Randwick] including our two long wheel-base Land Rovers and trailers.
All boxed gear still had to be stencilled with our unit identifying stripes (purple and green for Survey) including our soldier trunks and kit bags (sausage variety at that stage). Shiny green issue Land Rovers had to be repainted in dull matte khaki and also adorned with our colour stripes. This was done by hand with a paint brush.
On the 23 Monday afternoon we were given an intense intelligence briefing that gave us a good deal of information on Viet Cong and even communist minded organisations in Australia. The message was – keep our mouths shut – the walls have ears! Having been away for three weeks we were all anxious to get home.....
JUNE 1966
[the day after the VTF ferry arrives with the vehicles]
An immediate task was to sandbag the base of both Land Rovers including the driver and passenger compartments... The sandbags were lightly filled so that they would lie fairly flat on the floor. Their purpose was to afford some protection should the vehicle run over a landmine. Thankfully, that never happened.
unquote
Found a old footlocker today and purchased it.
Dating the item:
I have 8 footlockers at the moment and know the differences in locks and handles etc as they proceeded thru the decades.
Conveniently, most have an NSN and year stamping on the inside reinforcing piece across the inside of the lid. Some have Christmas tree markings.
Todays finding has a marking but is missing that lid piece with a 'year stamp'.
It does have the 1960's colour (bronze green gloss) and the early handles with fixing by spot welding (not hot riveted) and ridges on the topside (its not flat).
In the 70s the colour was drab and the handles were fixed by domed head hot rivets. I have one of those with an NSN etc of 1974. Later footlockers have flat head hot rivets.
Does the owners address give us the clue to the stripes code? - I guess the owner is medical corps and
red and yellow are the stripes...?