Look like 16H in use with Australians. 
Would I ever tell you a lie Rik?
email (option): wd.register@gmail.com
Would I ever tell you a lie Rik?
Jan, just because I've never caught you out doesn't mean that you wouldn't !
I hope that Steve doesn't mind, I have re-posted the photo with a summary of the information over on the WD Norton forum. I feel that this is a significant historical discovery (of particular relevance of course to owners in Australia of machines that seem to fall outside of the contracts).
http://pub4.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=267471303&frmid=103&msgid=1401182&cmd=show
The bikes in the back ground have vokes air filters.This photo from THE MOTORCYCLE shows an Austrailian motorcycle display team. 
Once again the AWM Ledgers contain the details on these Nortons:
This is an interesting case actually, as it shows that these bikes were transferred from AMF (Australian Military Forces) to AIF (Australian Imperial Force). With the transfer they received new census numbers.
Difficult to see, but if this would be the case, then it's the same bike as AMF C5102 in the second photograph!
Rik is going to transcribe all the Norton numbers in a spreadsheet, but he needs some encouragement...
Who's going to do the BSA entries? Are you on the case Rob?
Jan
email (option): wd.register@gmail.com
That doesn't surprise me Rob! In late 1941 - early 1942 the Australian Army bought hundreds of civilian motorcycles, they even put ads in the newspapers:
I have found hundreds of civilian Royal Enfields of various models (C, G, J, JF, L, KX, DC, pre war CO, ...) from the late 1930's. We checked these numbers against the entries in the factory records, and they had all been despatched to Australian dealers the late 1930's.
There's also an Australian contract for 1000 WD/C bikes, and 75 model L bikes "to military specification" were bought from Brown Bros in the UK. (We had found these 75 "Brown Bros" entries in the factory ledgers, but didn't know where these "military bikes" had ended up. It was interesting to see the same frame / engine numbers appearing in the AWM ledgers!).
Plus lots of British contract WD/Cs, and some entries from a mysterious batch of 900 WD/Cs that may have been one of the two French contracts that weren't completely delivered before the Fall of France in June 1940.
All very interesting stuff!
Jan
email (option): wd.register@gmail.com
This is where some of them ended up at the end of the war... Queensland
If you are only looking for photos of bikes with C numbers visible here are some below :-
Some are not easy to read but this is the best I have. If you want any picture of Australian motorcycle troops I have some more. I still have around 10,500 pictures to sort and label.......
I love military bikes and I only collect for myself but if they can help people with research or to find their own bike I like to try and help.....
Captain Jimmy Simpson R.A.S.C. used a Gold Star to train recruits,the helmeted skull on the tank was the school crest,the near side of the tank has thr red and green corps sign,an impressed machine?.Picture from Aug 14th 1941 Motorcycling. 
At least we can now see what this twin-port beastie was :-
KM23 691 with a 20" front and 19" rear wheel. Does it say 'Silver' ?
691 was indeed an M23 despatched 24/3/39 to J.K.&M. London EC3 who were presumably export agents.
Here's another one I found today...
Finlay Bros BSA showrooms, Victoria Australia..
A good collection of C numbers there.
Hi Rob,
Some more exciting news for you!
#12315 is also in the AWM ledger, number AIF C11138. (C stands for Cycle by the way...). It was also shipped from Melbourne to the East, the ship was called Nordnes, the shipping date was 2/10/41:
The ship's logbook confirms this date, and shows destination Singapore, where it arrived on 18/10/41:
Jan
email (option): wd.register@gmail.com
Good questions indeed Rik - which have left me puzzled and concerned about the AWM records.
If the bike arrived in Singapore in October 1941 then:
Who was it shipped to? Was it 8th Division Signals (the logical destination for a Despatch Riders Bike) or a was it a Provost bike?
How did it survive the war given that Malaya and Singapore fell to the Japanese in February (I think) 1942?
How did it end up in Disneys of Melbourne? Interestingly enough a lot of ex WD motorcycles were bought from the Government by Disneys for resale - this is evident in the AWM registration books. But how did it get back to Australia?
My engine and frame numbers are matching (W12315) and the crankcase halves also have matching numbers inside. The Norton factory engine build date inside the cases is 16 - 6 - 1940 which fits the chronological story.
But what is the relevance of the number WO 11871 which is on the side of the timing chest?
Thanks for your tips on posting photos Sven - it's a breeze now I've got the hang of it!
email (option): robert.g.elliott@gmail.com
Rob, the font and stamp forms on all your markings are exactly as I'd expect them to be.
The 'WO' number, although not documented appears to be a factory engine build reference. It was not used pre-war, at which time the actual engine number was used - The 'W' number on the side of the crankcase can best be viewed as a 'Duplicate frame number' - The War Office required it but there is no way that the factory was capable of matching pre-stamped engines and frames in the assembly shop - and why would they have wanted to ?
The 'WO' number was also used on spare engines so the relationship to the machine number varied but yours is in the correct range.
It's interesting that where the British War Office contracts were stamped with an M^ inspector's mark, yours has a small 'Disney' stamp.
Disney was a large pre-war Norton importer. It could even have been that these early wartime bikes were ordered through them.
My knowledge of the war in the Far East is a little sketchy I'm afraid, beyond being aware that the surrender of Singapore was a disaster and a tragedy for the huge numbers of servicemen involved.
Was Singapore a final destination or were there Australian units there who either returned to Australia with their transport or were sent on to other locations. It is certainly the case that AIF forces in the Middle East returned with all their transport in order to face the threat from Japan (in fact they returned with quite a lot of transport pinched from the British as well, but that's another story 
I suppose another possibility is perhaps that the machine had problems or a sub-section move was cancelled and it didn't actually take its place on-board.
The next line of research would probably be to start looking at Troop movements through 1941 - '42. It won't only be signals and provost units who had substantial numbers of motorcycles. Normal infantry units had a fair establishment, as did Engineers. Artillery were a major user as they were responsible for their own transport movements and communications in an era when radio contact was often unreliable.
Hi Rob,
looks like to become very interesting here!
I bet all Norton guys would like to have the history of their bikes as clear as yours, including me!
Let's hope some more info can be revealed soon.
Regards, Sven
email (option): snvosselman@gmail.com
I think C5100, C5102, C5103 and possibly C5104
Thanks for the info, my eyesight is not what it used to be .......
Hi Interesting information Some of the parts that I got for my WM 20 40775 came from an ex RNZAF loadmaster called Gavin who brought 3 WM 20's back from Singapore one of which he has kept and the others he onsold.
Henk sourced the identity of his bike which I passed on to him.
Gavin is still in the process of rebuilding his bike but it is on the back burner as he has an interst in Model T's!!
Cheers
John
email (option): jsaft1951@xtra.co.nz
This is all I could find from the 180 16H photos already sorted apart from one bike under maintenance and a 16H used as a waterpump at Alice Springs...
Not sure if this is in Oz as i have no information about this picture, but the slouch hat says Australian and the building looks local.....
Sorry I couldn't do more, hope this helps.