I bought a 1943 WD/CO/B (Frame number 15227) two years ago which had spent several decades rusting in a farm hedge. It is now on the road but not yet finished.
Mine was also delivered to Manchester War Office at the beginning of March '43. I do not know any of its history until 1980 when it was rescued (all the tinware and the wheels were thrown away!) It changed hands twice more before I bought it.
The tank I got for it appears to be from a machine bought back out of service by Enfield and re-conditioned for sale. I will send you some photos of the tank which show the paint finish and the lining and lettering. All the machines Enfield re-conditioned were finished in black enamel throughout.
I understand that Pride and Clark re-conditioned a large number of ex-ministry machines of several makes. I have seen photos of some of these finished in maroon and black and some in dark green and black. It is likely that the colour chosen was simply whatever was available at the time.
The /B suffix indicates that the gearbox fitted was made by Burman and not the usual Albion unit. I understand that this is because the Albion factory was bombed and production was interrupted for a month. 3000 WD/CO/B machines were made during that month, out of a total of 33000 WD/CO machines.
My machine still has matching engine and frame numbers, which is very unusual in a military machine. I suspect that it was supplied to the Home Guard and did not see much use. As far as I can tell it was never registered for civilian road use until last year.
I will sort out some photos to send to you tomorrow.
Regards,
Andy Smith
WD-CO-B-UK-1943