This Commer was one of a pair of ambulances "purchased by the Red Cross and Order of St John of Jerusalem from monies subscribed by the British Red Cross Society in Uruguay and the Israelite community in Uruguay for presentation to the admiralty".
Apparently they both wore plates to commemorate the men who died at the Battle of the River Plate - on December 13, 1939.
I'm not sure what year the ambulances were though.
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This page contains a single entry by Will Shiers published on July 31, 2008 9:18 AM.
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Its a Q model Superpoise which was first released in 1939, made through the war years for military only use and then production started up again after the war until 1949 when the S model, which was the same truck underneath with new cab and slightly larger engine - 16hp up from 14hp. Judging by the wheels, which are military and not civilian version, I would guess in the latter years of the war. I have two of these trucks, a one owner Commer with 39 000 orig miles on the clock and a Karrier badged version, which was an NZ only thing - a way of getting more trucks into New Zealand when you were limited by import licensing as to how many you could import. Put another badge on it, pretend it is another make, and bring it twice as many. It was factory sanctioned as the Maintenance Handbook is a proper Karrier one.
Hi! Some of these Commer trucks came to my country after a small batch were stopped before the travel to the Koreas War.
And many are still running in the farms or in small towns. A very interesting handful of brits are still working here. ACLO (South american badge of old AECs) , Fords , Morris, Commers (trucks and vans with locally and unique bodies) , Leylands , Seddons and a lot of Bedfords.
You can see more about htem in my website www.autos-uruguayos.tk or in our specialllized site www.grupoaclo.tk. Best Regards.