LAC has a nice collection of Canadian Centurion photographs. Used until 1977. 1972: Not sure how to interpret this, but "Ex Cdn. Club. A Centurion stands sentry during the early morning fog." 25-28 Sept 1972. "A Centurion tank of "B" sqn. The Royal Canadian Dragoons, in support of "A" coy, 3 Mech Cdo crosses near Neustift. 1973."
Smidge more on it from Foss/Mckenzie 'The Vickers Tanks'. "For the commercial market the company offered two designs based on a Wolseley car chassis. One type appeared as a handsome open tourer while the other was demonstrated as an armoured car." This Russian site seems to know more, with it being displayed in 1927, but I don't have his cited references: Google Translate Sounds like that 'Colonial Conference' in 1927 might be worth a dig into.
Both Rolls Royce and Vickers had their eyes not so much on the colonial market but on the Indian princely states where the local rulers were often happy to splash out on big luxurious cars but lacked decent roads to run them on. My first 'proper' job in the late 60s was as a graduate apprentice at Rolls Royce back in the day when cars and aero engines were all part of the same company. The Historical Department told the story of one Maharajah who bought two Roll Royces that had to be carried by teams of bearers from the railway to the ruler's palace, a journey of over 30 miles. They were then only used when he was driven a couple of miles to open his local legislative council once a year. The RR solution was to consider producing a half track for sale to the super rich who lived off the beaten track around the world but it was considered that this would produce a vehicle inconsistent with the standards pf dignity that RR wished to be associated with their cars The Maharajah's cars were confiscated by the Indian government on Independence and languished in their garage ever since. I have a feeling that although Vickers were offering two versions of their vehicle there was only ever one physical car with different bodies on the same chassis and the open tourer version acting as the prototype to develop the system before an armoured body was to be fitted.,but I'm going on memories of what I was told
Looking at photos of Canadian Forces in Germany. Are these German civies saluting in the way I think they are ? Harold A. Skaarup Web page (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4976236) Centurion Main Battle tank, 8th Canadian Hussars, on exercise in Northern Germany, Sep 1960.
If on Friday the 13th nobody has enough members to form a thingymejig and there has to be another whatsit called does that mean that this thread will have to stretch out like the vision of Banquoe's descendants in the Scottish play to the very crack of doom?
A mate with a long history in our diplomatic services tells of young German squaddies deploying into Croatia in the 90s. Their columns of trucks being greeted on arrival by cheering locals lining the roads with, cough, 'the old salute', and waving certain infamous flags. Describes their faces as the very definition of disconcerted...
They're probably Nazis but that barn has it all. Thatched roof, timbered walls, old hay rake. I think it needs appropriating.
38 T54/55 Thoughts of Centurion lead me to its most likely tank-on-tank adversary. I'm not great on mid century Sov stuff. Think the sometimes subtle recognition differences between types can cause me to turn away ('Some sort of upside-down frying pan Russki tank' usually my first ID), but it's hard not to give this thing some credit as a 'classic' tank. Purists might not merge 54 & 55, but I am, and don't care. I can at least differentiate between them & later T tanks by that wheel gap (Though I'm not even certain that's universal.) 34, IS2, IS3 all have that slightly archaic design feel. This is 'modern'. A postwar AFV for the cold war. Still in service, used by a multitude of nations from USSR satellites & clients to opponents that captured them en-masse. Built outside of the USSR (maybe sometimes licensed, maybe not. Not absolutely sure.) More than 85k built if you throw in all the variants. The most common tank in history? All the postwar MBT boxes ticked including adaptability to other roles, with a large dollop of that Soviet mechanical simplicity. One blog refers to it as 'The AK47 of tanks' - seems fair. Not uncommon on the show circuit, so doubtless many of us have seen it's party trick: A built-in ability to dump a certain amount of diesel from the fuel system onto the exhausts, creating a spectacular smokescreen (usually shortly accompanied by the sound of several hundred spectators coughing). Doubtless some T60-ish things have crept in here. Like I say; frying pans. They look broadly similar to me.
I only learned a couple of years ago that the T54/55 had its V-12 mounted transversely when I saw a scale model of one at a show with the engine cover open.
It was the ammunition cooking off, not the fuel. The lucky chap was, of course, the one who ran around the back of the tank a few seconds after the initial hit. Must have had quite a headache.
The only real entertainment the history channel ever gave me was reading Mr Kenny causing Tigrz r kule types on their forums to explode with indignation. I seem to recall an inexhaustible supply of battered combatants...
39 StuGs & Stuhs "The Sturmartillerie is, on the other hand, a weapon to assist the normal infantry Division. Their use during the attack corresponds to the Escort Artillery of the last war, that is, the elite of the light artillery. ... Assault artillery fights as escort artillery within the framework of the infantry. It does not attack like the tank, does not break through, but carries the attack of the infantry forward by quickly eliminating the most dangerous objectives through direct fire.... the platoon, or even the individual gun, makes a surprise appearance and then quickly vanishes before it can become a target for the enemy artillery." ~ von Manstein - terrible author but quite successful officer. Again, not technically tanks, but stood in officially for turreted things when production issues made them the only option. Starting life as an adjunct to the Infantry as old Erich describes, but evolved into a ubiquitous machine in Assault gun, Howitzer, & SPATG roles that served pretty much wherever the Wehrmacht & SS did. Based on Mk.III & IV chassis, without any of that expensive & intensive need to manufacture turrets. Losing a turret isn't exactly a small deficiency, but seriously, the money, time & industrial effort saved without that feature was significant (look no ball race!), and you still end up with a good gun in an armoured box, with the lowest possible profile. Not that that industrial savings were the thought process behind the initial variants, but it did pay off during the aforementioned tank shortage. I like 'em. One of Germany's pragmatic machines. Probably only an evolutionary dead end in the sense that missiles & man-portable stuff might eventually do the same support job, but the concept lasted longer postwar than interleaved wheels & other things that went in the slops bucket. The Finns soldiered on with theirs until the 60s, and then emplaced a few for airfield defence up to the 80s. (?) The Spanish until the mid 50s. Deployed by Syria until quite late. Presumably via French supply lines. Hence the well-known Golan hulk/s (Which I'd really like to see one day. I won't, but I'd like to.) Pictures too easy. Sorry! Frustrating StuG 40. Recovered complete down to its tools in 2000-something. W&T reported it got stuck in bureaucracy and its external fittings nicked. Not looked into it for a long while but it appears to have spent years rusting outside. Knowing some perfect condition Russki recoveries, it's as likely to be painted in Red Square green with white rims by now. (More pics: Google Translate)
It always is, especially when someone's getting exercised about tankishness. Though I suppose the StuG's more of a relative of the Gun Carrier.