Where more than one Corps was involved within a Unit, such as a training school, or in this particular case more specifically, a Field Ambulance unit where the transport element was RAASC and the Medical side was RAMC, then the Tac sign did not carry any specific Corps colour background. In this case the numbers become important, and these are issued (usually) from Canberra.
Therefore the black background states "non Corps specific" and the "76" represents 2 Field Ambulance and the "77" represents 8 Field Ambulance who later replaced "2" in the theatre.
Not too far down the line from these two numbers is "79" which is often mistakenly identified in black and white shots as also being on a black background where in actual fact it was on a diagonally divided "Red/Black" plate and represents the Military Police.
Back in 1966 when Operation Hardihood was first launched (the insertion of 1 ATF and 1 ALSG into SVN) most units were issued with specific identifying numbers.
See the posts by Rod
http://remlr.com/forum/index.php?topic=441.msg3943#msg3943These would be great in a sticky. Save some of us a lot of repetitive posting.
In the case of 87 Transport Platoon, back home in Puckapunyal we ran under our parent HQ's number on a RAASC blue/yellow plate. ie 25/522 which represented 25 Coy,/ 522- General Transport. When the unit was posted O/S, it went to Vietnam as an individual unit and was issued with the number 519 and the Div sign of 1ALSG - the logistical horses head.
Those with access to Stephen Taubert's book will see that the last Independent Transport Platoon was issued 518 back in the WWll days!Our sister Unit in country was 1 Transport Platoon which belonged to 1 Tpt Coy (Div. Tpt.) and being already a Divisional Unit, the parent Company went overseas with their own Tac sign, RAASC colours and the number 70, but 1 Platoon was issued with the number 31.
When 1 Platoon shipped out of Sydney to go O/S this left a gaping hole in Divisional Transport requirements back home (important for training purposes for the proposed relief force for the following year) so a replacement Platoon was raised. It was designated 12 Platoon and this Platoon automatically took the next Tactical number 32. Confused yet?
When in 1967 1 Platoon was relieved by 2 Platoon RAASC, the logical next number had already been allocated to 12 Platoon, hence 2 Platoon took the
NEXT number, 33 as its Tac number.
26 Company had replaced 25 Company back here in Australia, and so when a separate Transport Platoon and its inherent administrating Company HQ eventually arrived in country (see comments from 1 Coy Commdrs diaries approx 16 months earlier) it bore its Aussie Tac sign of 26/522 (26 Coy/ 522 -General Transport) and its Platoon didn't actually have any specific number allocated so it took the number 86 on a Blue/Yellow background to differentiate itself from the Coy HQ.
I assume 85 Platoon did the same for the same reason, but here I am in a bit of a quandary as I was always lead to believe that the idea of Tac signs was to signify the identity of the parent unit without being blatantly obvious to any enemy observers, hence the (what seems to outsiders) random issue of seemingly irrelevant numbers.
My suspicion is that the Units themselves took these numbers possibly as a "Unit pride" thing rather than as an official directive, but I could easily be wrong.
As for the Artillery sign I do not know who 47 was but there may be some Arty people who could tell us. I don't know what the Div Loc Battery signs were.
Regards
Glen
