38 AUGUST 2019 ownerdriver.com.auKEY TO KHAKI
COLLECTION
Surplus military
trucks carried
Australia through a
period of prosperity
after World War
II. Tamara Whitsed
travels to Adelong,
NSW to see Kevin
Purcell’s private
collection K
EVIN PURCELL’S passion for military
vehicles dates back to World War II.
The former farmer and spraying and
earthmoving contractor was born in 1941
and says he clearly remembers waving at
convoys of army trucks during his early
childhood. “The soldiers used to wave
madly,” he says.
In 1953 his father bought a W WII Blitz
Chev for the family farm at Yaven Creek, which
is 28km south-west of Adelong, New South Wales.
The Blitz carted cattle to the Adelong saleyards
and took logs to the Purcell’s sawmill. And in the
summer Kevin’s father put a water tank on the
back to help the local bushfire brigade during fires.
Kevin drove the Blitz around the farm long
before he was old enough to have a licence. Thesteering was heavy. Comparing it to a horse, he says
the Blitz was “hard in the mouth”.
The military sold thousands of surplus vehicles
after W WII, and they became a common sight on
roads and farms throughout Australia. Most of
Kevin’s farming neighbours also bought trucks
from the military surplus sales. “In Yaven Creek
there would have been only one farm without
a Blitz.”
In the 1960s Kevin bought an ex-army jeep.
“I was always mad on jeeps. They’re good fun to
drive.” He used it on the farm. “Just a runabout.
Odd jobs. Carting fencing material.” And he
enjoyed the mechanical challenge of keeping
it in working order.
Five years ago – after over 70 years on the Yaven
Creek farm – Kevin made the decision to movetruckingheritage