Centurion References

[Stephen White]

To start the ball rolling on sources of information on the Centurion Mk 5/2, the original user handbooks are available here:

http://www.afvhandbooks.com/centurion.html

This website is an amazing but thoroughly disorganised treasure trove of detailed pictures of the Aussie Mk 5/1s:

http://www.centurion-mbt.com/

The Aussie Mk 5/1s had the 20 pounder gun rather than the 105mm of the Mk 5/2s. They also had the auxiliary armoured fuel tanks and a number of other modifications for Vietanm.

The best kits available for most of the Mark 5 variants are made by AFV Club:

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/r ... 100d01.htm

There are lots of websites covering these models, the best being Armorama, Missing-Lynx and Perth Military Modelling.

I'll post some written references later.

Enjoy

Stephen

[Adrian Harris]

Handy links Stephen

The Perth site usually lists their references at the ends of the reviews, so a few books there to peruse.

Adrian.

[Stephen White]

Here are some Centurion references. Some may be out of print but the usual suspects might be able to supply, Ebay, Abe Books or local libraries.















Happy researching.

Stephen

[Stephen White]

Some more on the Cent:

Combat history:

Korean War - United Kingdom - Mark 3 Variants w

Suez Crisis- United Kingdom - Mark 5 variants (mostly Mark 3s upgraded to Mk 5)

Aden - Mark 10 Variants

War of 1965 - India

Six Day War - Israel

Liberation of Bangladesh/War of 1971 - India

Yom Kippur War - Israel

Vietnam War - Australia Mark 5/1 (Aust) with special theatre applicable modifications

Angola Bush War - South Africa

Gulf War - United Kingdom as Centurion AVREs

UK variants with FV numbers:

FV4007 Centurion Mk 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8/1, 8/2

FV4011 Centurion Mk 5

FV4012 Centurion Mk 7/1, 7/2

FV4015 Centurion Mk 9

FV4017 Centurion Mk 10




Plus: AVRE, ARK, Bulldozer, BARV, Bridelayer, ARV (for Fabrice).

Then there are the Oliphant variants in South Africa, the Israel Sho't, the Stridsvagen 104 (for our Swedish friends), the Aussie Vietnam modded tanks for our friends down under.

The list of export users includes: Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, South Africa, Australia, India, Israel, Jordan, New Zealand, Kuwait, Iraq, Netherlands, Egypt, Canada.

Unless someone can come up with an alternative, the Cent holds the record for the widest operational service and the greatest number of different user countries. The T-55, T-62, M-48 and M-60 may come close but a quick count seems to put Centurion in pole position. So lots of scope for different versions and colour schemes.

Alex Easton asked about Suez:





And Korea:



These are for 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, a very esteemed bunch of donkey wallopers but I'm sure you could find a Royal Tank Regiment colour scheme....

Hope this helps.

Stephen

[David Skeldon]

Hi,
My interest is bridgelayers.Do you know of any books that covers theses/


David

[Stephen White]

David

Don't know of a book but this might be useful:

http://www.primeportal.net/ce/gunther_n ... dge_layer/

I've got a soft spot for Call sign 96, the Cent Bridge. The bridge itself was carried upside down and was an open structure. You could get everyone in a Chieftain tank squadron into the brige, which was perfect for getting to the showers or a run ashore. Eighty odd pink bodies on top on the way back had to be carefully hidden because the whole exercise was strictly illegal. There was always one who couldn't resist sticking his head up and giving the game away.

Stephen

[David Skeldon]

Hi,
yes seen that,Thanks

David

[Stephen White]

Some original photos:

British Cents in Korea:





Australian Mk 5/1s and Cent Bridgelayers in Vietnam:









Mines were a significant threat in Vietnam. This Cent has just been struck. The crew got out, although the driver was wounded. Two crewmembers can be seen running back:













British Cent AVRE in the first Gulf War:



Swedish Cent:



And finally,I mentioned above the great quality of the Cent Bridgelayer - that it could transport a whole squadron. Here's proof:



Regards

Stephen

[John Wiggins]

Hi Stephen
Are Aussie cents, with the fume extractor, 20pdr guns or early 105mm?

Regards
John

[John Wiggins]

Hi
Another book that arrived today.


john

[Stephen White]

John

Short answer is 20 pounders. The Aussies originally bought a batch of 60 Mk 3s with 17 pounder in 1951/2. Fhese were convertd in 1956 to Mk 5 with the early Type A 20 pounder which can be distinguished by the counterbalance weight on the muzzle. A second buy of 51 and a third buy of 6 Mk 5s followed. A modification programme replaced the Type A barrels with a Type B which had a fume extractor with counter-weights (three steel strips welded to the top of the fume extractor). The introduction of the Type B barrel was accompanied by other mods including addition of a .50 cal ranging machine gun (which required the additional counter-weights on the fume extractor) and the external 100 gal long range fuel tank. The unofficial designation for these tanks was Mk 5/1 (Aust).

All the best

Stephen

[Brian Leach]

Hi Stephen

Looking at all of these pictures I cannot help but thinking
What are tanks doing in heavy jungle?!

Have you ordered yours yet?

[Stephen White]

Hi Brian

Yes, I believe 001 has my name on it.

The Australians had been in Vietnam for about 3 years before the first tanks were deployed in April 1968. The M113s had proved a great success with their fire support but it was really an infantry war, at least it was the way the Aussies chose to fight it. The Royal Australian Armoured Corps were feeling marginalised in an increasingly infantry dominated Army when the decision was taken, at the request of the then Task Force Commander, to deploy a half squadron of Cents. There was a widespread concern that the tanks would be an embarrassment, that the logistics of supporting them in the field would be too great and that they would have little cross country mobility.

In the event, none of those obstacles were insurmountable, particularly as a couple of AVLBs were deployed and used heavily. The tanks quickly proved their worth. During the Tet Offensive in May 1968, the Australian Task Force positioned itself astride the enemy withdrawal routes from around Saigon. They got the expected fierce reaction and took on a substantially heavier force of regular North Vietnamese regiments at the defence of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral. The tanks were called forward on about day three and turned the course of the battle, firstly stabilising the defence of Coral and then supporting infantry in the close assault of estensive bunker positions threatening Balmoral. They really got stuck in at close quarters and the 20 pounder cannister rounds proved highly effective in removing vegitation, destroying bunkers and taking on massed assaults. They also used HE and even AP to disrupt the defences. The Australians were highly trained in close tank-infantry co-operation and so made a great success of the use of armour in close country. After Coral/Balmoral, the infantry were insistent on tan support.

I had a priceless experience of seeing the effect of 20 pounder cannister on bunkers when I took a troop through the jungle training range at Canungra in Queensland where the Aussies did their pre-Vietnam work up.

The tanks also proved their worth in fighting in more urban surroundings. The Battle of Bihn Ba in June 1969 saw a company of infantry supported by two troops of Cents assault a village occupied and fortified by a much larger force of regular North Vietnamese. They re-took the village in a fierce day long engagement.

Although several tanks suffered multiple hits from RPG-7 and were penetrated, all continued to operate and were repaired in theatre. The greatest threat was from improvised mines. Nothing much changes as Afghanistan is demonstrating.

I'll post some more photos of Cents in Vietnam which I've just found on Flickr.

Regards

Stephen

[Stephen White]

Some photos (credited to Gary Willits, for research purposes only):

Firstly, an essential bit of kit for a tank crew:



Cent bridelayers were essential for mobility in Vietnam:



A difficult picture but it shows a main armament round leaving the barrel during an engagement at night in thick jungle in the rain.....:



Daytime engagement in defence of a fire base:



Note the spent main armament cases on the back decks:



It wasn't all jungle:



This barrel has only one counter-weight welded to the fume extractor, where there were ususally three strips:





But this was:



Red dust everywhere:



For a really good account of the battle of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral, see:



Regards

Stephen

[John Wiggins]

Hi Stephen
Great photos, thanks for posting them.

John