Pre & Wartime Indian Army Vehicle Registration Numbers

Hi to all...

Does anyone have any details on how the Indian Army armoured units - prior to and during WW2 - numbered their military vehicles ?

Each VRN included a Military Department Arrow pointing vertically. Then - depending on the date - many vehicles had four, five or six figure VRNs...

but -

I also have examples that include a large B. (used on the initial Med Mk 1s sent out in 1925), G., H., K., M, & W. preceding the number. H, K & M appear to have been used for RTC Light Tanks (a letter for each Coy ?) while the Ws were perhaps only used on Carriers (the examples I have seen were filmed in Singapore in 1941). Evidence might suggest that the letter variants were British Units stationed in the Far East. These all seem to be initially pre-war...

All of the above said, the majority of British armoured units deployed to the Far East during the war used the standard T number.

However there is evidence that British tanks handed over to the Indians in 1947 for Partition, lost their T number and were then given a standard Indian six-figure number...the two examples I have seen were captured in the 1965 Indo-Pak War - (T)147224 crossed out and replaced with 800252. A second example was (T)148785 replaced with 800253.

Any help would be most useful...

With thanks

Roddy