Australian Ambulances in Korea War

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I have just been flicking through YouTube and identified the 4WD ambulance that was featured in the opening scenes of each episode of M*A*S*H as the Dodge WC-54 Half Ton.

So this left me wondering what type of ambulance did the Australian Army/Military use in the Korean War? Did they still use the CMP based ambulances of WW-II because it was before the Series 2/A Ambulances that were used in Vietnam?

Kind Regards
Lionel

[Mick_Marsh]

When did they use the Dodge?

[Lionelgee]

When did they use the Dodge?

G'day Mick,

I am not sure if they ever did. The USA used the Dodge and I was asking the wider audience of AULRO what ambulances were used by Australia when they were serving in Korea.

So far I have found photographs only of Jeeps with extensions that look similar in set up to the 2A Shorties with extra canvas added to them. The description of the photographs I found at the Australian War Memorial say something along the lines of ... "The ambulance is a converted jeep with a canvas cover and removable side and rear flaps". This begs the question - were these Jeep ambulances borrowed from the US or did the Australians have their own converted Jeeps over there?

Plus I found a couple of RAAF CMP ambulances.


Kind Regards
Lionel

[Mick_Marsh]

Sorry.
International.

[Lionelgee]

Hello Mick & other interested parties,

Attached are two photographs sourced from the AWM collection. The Jeep one was Accessed Wednesday, 17 October 2012 from P05004.004 | Australian War Memorial; and the RAAF CMP ones were Accessed Wednesday, 17 October 2012 from JK0632 | Australian War Memorial

The RAAF CMP ambo shot says it was taken in Japan when they were unloading stretcher cases from Korea.

Kind Regards
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I found a photograph from the AWM - accessed Wednesday, 17 October 2012, from HOBJ1641 | Australian War Memorial which shows the extension frame the Jeep ambulances were fitted with.

Kind Regards
Lionel

[123rover50]

Here is a pommy one. Did we use them?

Didiman

[JDNSW]

Sorry.
International.

AB series Inters were introduced in 1961 or 62 - a bit after the end of the Korean war.

John

[zulu Delta 534]

Australia only sent troops to Korea and as far as I am aware we sent no vehicles or support equipment whatsoever. 128 Tpt Pl was formed in country as the need arose to facilitate resupply, but used American equipment (Jeeps and GMC CCKWs). Even in the later conflict in Malaya we sent troops only and used other peoples equipment. Vietnam was really the litmus test of Australian equipment going overseas.
The modern army that we know of today, fully self contained, with its own fleet of vehicles and equipment only really began developing around 1948 when the old Battalion system was changed to the current RAR system. (There is some interesting reading available on the subject, as prior to 1948, our constitution of 1901 deemed that our Defence Force was just that, a force formed for our defence only.) Hence, when the two big wars came up we hurriedly formed the "Australian Imperial Force" - a branch of the British Army and, on paper at least, separate from our Defence Force,- to allow the deployment of troops overseas.
So Lionel, to answer your original question, we would have used whatever was available and these vehicles possibly would have come from the UN Motor pool that would have been supplied by the two major forces of either the US or Britain.
Regards
Glen

[Lionelgee]

Here is a pommy one. Did we use them?

Didiman

Hello 123 Rover 50,

Thank you for posting the photo up.

I did see a couple of photographs taken of the US jeeps used early in Vietnam and they had a very similar back to the Land Rover in your photograph. So maybe the Jeeps evolved a bit between the wars.

I am not up on my early Land Rover models before my Series III’s – what model Land Rover is in your photo?

Did we use the Land Rover show in your photograph in Korea?

I don't know as I only started thinking about Australian ambos in Korea last night.

Hopefully someone else here can fill us in?

Kind Regards
Lionel