Image Control Publications

Desert Sand to Jungle Mud

Australian Military Vehicles of World War II, Volume Two: Tracked Carriers

This hefty volume is a follow up book to Desert Sand to Jungle Mud, Australian Military Vehicles of the Second World War Volume 1, Trucks, 1/4 ton Jeeps, and Trailers. That volume was quite favorably reviewed by AMPS back in June, 2024.

As an important part of the British Commonwealth,  Australian military forces played a vital role in combatting Axis forces in the Southwest Pacific and during early stages of WWII, in the North African campaign. As a part of the Commonwealth, Australia received both British and Lend-Lease matériels, but made great efforts to develop “home grown” vehicles and weaponry. The subject of this book is Australia’s tracked carrier, which looks suspiciously like the British Universal Carrier, but did incorporate a number of Australian design changes.

Vital Statistics

Format - hardcover, portrait format

Page Count - 247 heavyweight pages

Size - 9” x 11.5”

Photos - 500+ period B/W images

Tables / drawings / diagrams - many informational tables, vehicle and component drawings

All text and captions are in English.

What's between the Covers?

Above - the book’s Table of Contents, note the many useful appendices  

To differentiate between the similar looking British Universal carriers and the Australian produced versions, the nomenclature LP (local pattern) 1 or 2 was used. The above images show LP1 carriers being manufactured at the Victorian Railways Transport work shops. This volume contains quite few interesting photos of various models of these little carriers being made.

Given the need for domestically produced armored vehicles of ANY size and usage given the very real threat of Japanese invasion, the Aussies didn’t mess around. According to the top right image caption above, they had already produced an amazing 1,000 of these carriers by September, 1941. Considering that they didn’t have anywhere near the heavy / arms industry as some other nations, and a lot of manpower was off fighting for the Commonwealth half a world away, this output is incredible.

The authors have selected a nice range of photographs showing the production and manufacturers assembly lines of these tracked carriers.

This book does a solid, methodical job of examining the Australian development of their own domestic tracked carrier program, including variants and improvements made along the way. The above image of a two-page spread is a good example of the authors seamless blending of useful period technical drawings and good use of photographs. Note the camouflage on the carrier images at right.

Above - the Australians examined and tested any and every possible use of the tracked carriers, including as water capable craft.

Above- another variant looked into was mounting a 2 pound gun onto the carrier as a sort of self propelled light anti-tank gun. This might have had some success against the light Japanese armor, but apparently wasn’t thought highly enough of to warrant going into full mass production. Just a couple hundred were made. Still, this would make an interesting subject for a model….

And above we see another interesting variant of the tracked carrier, the  3 inch mortar carrier. Again, nice drawings complement the text and photos.

The authors explain that Australian units which were based in the UK or taking part in the North African campaign were issued British made tracked carriers for most part. Later on, in late 1942 and early 1943, as Aussie units were sent home to defend Australia and elsewhere in in the Southwest Pacific, these British made carriers went with them. Interestingly, these carriers included mortar carriers which were found to be slightly inferior to the Australian made mortar carriers, as the British version wasn’t made for mortar use while on the vehicle, while the Aussie version was. I wouldn’t have guessed that.

Above - The issue of transporting carriers is also covered in this volume, with some good photos of trailers in use.

Above - This volume closes with a whopping section of appendixes, 10 in total. These provide a quite wide range of interesting information on the entire range of Australian made tracked carrier variants, production numbers, and all sorts of technical data. Everything you’d ever want to know about these little vehicles, and then some!

Conclusions

I must confess to knowing very little about Australian vehicle use and production prior to reviewing this title (and it’s preceeding volume), and I found them both to be quite interesting.

The depth and quality of the material presented by the authors is outstanding. The text is comprehensive while remaining readable, going into great detail. The huge number of wide ranging photographs are well chosen for interest and quality. The authors do a great job of blending in a great many technical drawings and sketches, enhancing the text quite well. In all aspects, this is a very high quality look at these useful little vehicles.

If you have any interest in Australian military vehicles of World War II ( and a bit beyond, actually ), this book is very well deserving of a place in your reference bookcase.

Highly Recommended! 

Thanks to David Doyle Books for the review copy

Reviewed by Chuck Aleshire, AMPS Chicagoland

AMPS 2nd Vice President, Midwest Region

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