Canadian Centurion tanks question

[jdmcm]

Thanks so much for the replies guys, super helpful and very much appreciated!

Regards
John

[Ed Storey]

Here is a 1973 image of a Canadian Centurion Mk 11 in Germany. The CWM example was from LETE and therefore had been equipped to the latest Mk 11 modifications and this photograph shows it when it was still on outdoor display.

41-12 FV 4017 Centurion Mk 12 - left hand view, CWM Vehicle, Ottawa - 1981 copy.jpg

Centurion.jpg

[jdmcm]

Very cool, thanks Ed. Did we upgrade the tanks in Canada to the L7 105mm or did they all remain 20lbrs until retirement?

[Dan Martel]

Not wanting to steal Ed's thunder, but I thought that a picture is worth a thousand words. During the summer of 1978, a young 2nd Lieutenant of The RCR was going through Phase III infantry officer training at CFB Gagetown, part of which involved directing tank fire. Each candidate was given one 20-lbr round to give to the crew, after which the round would be fired at a target, selected by the candidate, about a mile and a half away. There was lots of 20-lbr TP-T or training purpose-tracer available to fire. So, in 1978, it was 20-lbr's for Gagetown.

The first photo shows our hero with his very own tank round.

The second shows skid loads of 20-lbr TP-T.

[jdmcm]

Wow, that is awesome Dan, what great memory that must have been, something I can only dream about, thanks so much for sharing that

Regards
John

[Dan Martel]

John,

I forgot to cite the most knowledgeable person I know about Centurions, who is also a member of this forum. Mike Cecil and I carried on a very informative thread about the tank, five years ago this month.

If you have any technical questions about the tank, send Mike a PM and he'd be glad to answer them. He was, and still is, very forthcoming to anyone on the forum with a question.

Cheers,
Dan.

[Richard Whelan]

I served in Germany on Centurions from 1976 until we changed to rented Leopard and yes we love-ling filled those 100 gallon tanks everyday while on exercise. In fact I may still have the last time centurions were on parade. It was taken with a super 8 camera and really bad but I will look for it.