RAAC Centurions in Vietnam....color?

[Mike Cecil]

Sorry to ruin the theory, John, but the turret currently on 169017 (gate guard @ 1 Brigade, Palmerston, NT the last time I saw it) was transferred to that hull in the 1970s from an ex-British Army Centurion sourced from Hong Kong. A rear view of that turret will show you that is has the rear escape hatch, too. It's a really early turret.

2nd image: 169052 did not serve in SVN. It was one of the tanks not uparmoured to Mk5/1 standard, but remained as a Mk.5 with Aust mods such as the L6A1 RG. Virtually all track guards on Aust Cents were shortened in this way by the time they were withdrawn from service in 1977. Note also the DBG paint on the manlet visible beneath the ripped mantlet cover. I'm pretty sure I know where this image was taken, too: Bowna, NSW.

Regards

Mike