Overvalwagens!
Mystery vehicles
Shell Oil Armoured car on Curacao
This is an improvised armoured car on Curacao, Dutch West Indies,
around 1929. The picture comes from a booklet, Curacao in oude
ansichtkaarten (Curacao in old postcards), that I just bought today after
seeing this picture. What can we say about this car about which probably
no one knows anything? This "overvalwagen" was built on the island of
Curacao by Royal Dutch Shell, then still called CPIM petroleum company,
after a band of Venezuelan rebels had assaulted and looted the island in
1929. The car was built on a "solid car chassis" the caption informs us. We
assume this was an American truck commonly available on Curacao.
Note how the headlights are built in, quite uniquely I think. The truck seems to have spoked wheels and is fitted with air
tyres. The wheels are well protected by armoured plates as well. A large horizontal visor has been cut in the front
armour. Probably both driver (seated rather high?) and commander or gunner would use it. Four holes are provided
for shooting on the sides of the car. It seems open topped, rails can be seen for a canvas cover. The doors were
probably in the rear. There seems to be a small light fixed to the top of the hull (leftside).
The gentlemen posing with the car are a mixed lot. The two men to the left were probably the company management,
then in the centre five Dutch police officers (one has a Lewis gun), to the right some local auxiliary or company police?
Possibly the eight uniformed men formed the crew together. If someone knows anything about this truck or its fate (was
it still in service during WW2?), please let him step forward and tell us what he knows.
Armoured jeeps with K.N.I.L.?
The picture is from J.W. Hogendoorn's De Jeep in Nederland. An excellent
and comprehensive account of all jeep variants, both military and civilian,
that served in Holland. Plenty of info on jeeps in the colonies is available
as well. This picture from 1948 shows two armoured jeeps on Java, fitted
out for use on railways and connected back to back. The jeeps seem to be
Willy's, mounting an armoured hull.
We do not exactly know who did this and when. Willys jeeps probably did not arrive in the Dutch East Indies before the
Japanese invasion (Ford GP's did). So we can state at least that the armoured hulls were fitted after 1946 to the Willys
chassis. But what about the hulls? Who made these and when? Take a look at the armoured hull (shape and welding)
and compare it to the Stadswacht Overvalwagens. It is very similar. Did someone recycle early K.N.I.L. armour by
cutting and pasting Overvalwagen hulls to produce these armoured jeeps? Or were these armoured hulls already built
in 1941-42 for Ford GP's? Some K.N.I.L. accounts of the period vaguely mention "armoured jeeps" or armoured
"terreinwagens" in service, but we have no evidence. Who knows?
BB13
This picture is from a Japanese cartoon.
We have no further info on the cartoon presently, but it is clear the vehicle
is based on a Dutch East Indies Braat type Overvalwagen!
The front end is clearly identical, but this Overvalwagen mounts a large
turret, while the rear end seems similar to the front.
Now that's intriguing.
We have no proof such a vehicle actually existed and for the moment we
can assume this vehicle is a fantasy based on pictures of captured Braats.
But there are several sources (notably a 1943 Australian booklet on Japanese and captured AFV's) that state that a
few 4x4 and turret mounted Braats were indeed built (turrets either fitted with a Lewis light machinegun or a Browning
.50). We do not know if K.N.I.L.'s workshops in Bandung and other facilities had the technology to built symmetrical
armoured vehicles with turrets, but why not? The Alvis-Straussler AC3D armoured cars could have served as an
example to this vehicle and by the end of 1941 the workshops must have reached quite an advanced level of design
and production. Production of a turret should not haven been too difficult, especially if the turret would be hand
operated. Note the large hole in the hull of BB13: it must have been knocked out (at point blank range?) by a tank or
anti-tank gun.The tactical sign BB13 is interesting as well. What dit it mean? To what unit did this car belong? These
signs/numbers rarely show up on K.N.I.L. vehicle pictures. They must have been added rather late or at least after war
had started. There is one other example of such a tactical sign: the first of the abandoned White Scout Cars (on Java)
-check out the picture on the Foreign built armoured car page - has a tactical sign on the left hand door starting with
BE. Any comments welcome!
The Terror of the Fifth Column
The picture was identified by Jacques Jost as a locally built armoured car
in Makassar (Celebes/Sulawesi Island), around 1940. It was probably
operated by the local Stadswacht and advertised as the "Terror of the Fifth
Column" (de "Schrik van de Vijfde Colonne"). There was also a slightly
different second vehicle. Thank you Jacques Jost!
Crow and Icks in their Encyclopedia of Armoured Cars (page 110) knew it
as such: "Ford 4x2 chassis (...), improvised faceted hull w/stepped hull top,
fixed superstructure resembling a turret, rear wheels armour protected,
horizontal radiator louvers, perforated disc wheels, used in the
Netherlands East Indies."
The Surabaya Tankette
This Imperial War Museum picture was taken during the battle for Surabaya in november 1945. The Dutch East Indies
port city had seen a large scale Indonesian Nationalist uprising shortly after the Japanese surrender in 1945. The
Indonesians captured most Japanese military equipment in the city, including 1000 machineguns, more than 60
armoured cars (many ex-K.N.I.L.) and 16 tanks (both ex-Japanese and K.N.I.L.). The 4th British-Indian Division was
sent in to take control of the city and rescue the beleagered European population. After intense fighting they
succeeded. This little tank was knocked out in the process. In "Soerabaja, Beeld van een stad" the caption to this
picture talks of a knocked out light TKR (=Indonesian Nationalist Army) tank of Japanese origin. Well, it's not really
Japanese! The last issue of Wheels and Tracks Magazine also shows this picture in the "identifile" section. The light
tank has clearly been based on a Universal Carrier. It has been covered with a roof and a small one-man turret (with
hatch) is mounted in the centre of the tank. No armament is visible. The turret shows a huge anchor painted between
the letters E T. Next to it is a rectangular patch that may have been painted over a Japanese (Navy) flag. Marc Koelich
wrote that the white patch on the turret is actually the lower part of an Indonesian flag. The inscription T.K.R.L. stands
for Tentara Keamanan Rakjat Laoet (old spelling) or Rakyat Laut (modern spelling). TKR can be translated as
People's Security Forces, and was the predecessor of T.N.I.. Laut is the sea, so read "Navy". This might confirm that
the tankette was seized by the Republicans at a naval installation.
There seems to be a second TKR LAOET inscription in red on the other side of the turret. If this tank was in service
with the Japanese Forces prior to september 1945, it may have been a Navy tank given the anchor and the fact there
was a huge Imperial Navy detachment in the former Dutch Navy barracks of Goebeng (also captured by the
Nationalists). Now, where and when was this vehicle built? In Surabaya, in K.N.I.L. workshops and N.E.I. factories
(Braat), but under Japanese supervision? The Japanese captured Bren Carriers in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaya,
British Borneo, Java, Ambon and Timor.
Meanwhile several people have pointed out that the carrier was most likely a British-built Mortar Carrier.
How many were built? Barry Marriott from Australia wrote me this: "The "Tank Tracks" book mentions a tank being
found abandoned by the Japanese in New Guinea that looked like a Bren Carrier with a Turret." Who knows more
about the Surabaya Tankette?
The right picture is also to be found in 'Making Tracks' British Carrier Story 1914 to 1972' on page 63. Andrew
Morrision provided the complete text of the caption that says: 'One or two of these are known to have been converted
to rudimentary light tanks by plating over the superstructure. A crude turret was built centrally towards the rear with a
hinged raised cupola and a machine gun. Driver and front gunner occupied their usual positions. These vehicles were
used in action.'
Let's see if just one or two were built. So far we have only seen this lone tankette in Surabaya and one was possibly
sighted in New-Guinea. We cannot rule out however that more were built. The Japanese must have captured lots and
lots of Carriers. Then, how did this Surabaya tankette get there where it was? After the successfull Japanese invasion
of the Indies in early 1942, the best units were withdrawn and redeployed to other theatres. The troops that remained
in the Indies were less well equipped or used ex-K.N.I.L. equipment (though some of that was redeployed as well). I do
not think there was any serious reinforcement during the occupation of Java. Could the tankette have been brought
along in March 1942? Hardly possible: it should have been converted really shortly before. And where? I think this tank
was a local (Surabaya) wartime conversion.