Tom Kruse

Left: Tom Kruse's 1936 Leyland Badger - (one of) his Birdsville mail trucks. Tom Kruse is one of Australia's most famous outback characters, providing support transport for Madigan's 1939 Simpson Desert expedition (described in Crossing the Dead Heart), and playing himself in the 1953 film The Back of Beyond.

The truck, and the driver who is now 86, were at the 2000 National 4x4 Show (Melbourne). The Badger normally resides in an Adelaide Museum.

The two rear driven axles are Thornycroft units.