Originally Posted by
Lotz-A-Landies
Hi Hughie
Not quite, in civilian life in australia the chassis number is the identity of the vehicle. In the Australian Army the ARN was the identity of the vehicle, the chassis was treated as a part.
In the various base workshops the rebuild lines completely dismantled the vehicles and then repaired/restored each assembly and then built the vehicle back up. Quite frequently the original chassis may not be finished being stripped, repaired and re-painted so they would use another chassis that was finished or one that came off a parts vehicle. The ARN book would then be updated with the change of chassis number. It's the same as getting an exchange engine, rather than reconditioning your own.
Hence 112-116 started with your chassis and finished service with a different chassis. The most likely time for this to have occurred is during a full base overhaul your chassis had one in october 1973 according to the plate in the image you posted.
When you look at the images of 112-166 in Vietnam, my opinion is that it has features of a Series 2 vehicle particularly the front guards. Therefore it is most likely that in Vietnam, 112-166 still had your chassis and the chassis swap happened after the return to Oz in or before October 1973.
Does that make sense?
Diana