1st Canadian Centaur Battery

I came across an interesting little tid bit in CMHQ Report No. 139. Near the end of the report it mentions a short lived Canadian Unit, 25 days. 1st Canadian Centaur Battery (SP) equiped with 95mm guns. I have searched through my references and cannot find anything about the equipment this unit used. No mention of a chassis type nor can I find anything on a 95mm gun. The unit was deployed with the 6th Airborne Div and was disbanded when the Div returned to England. The guns had originally been manned by the Royal Marines.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Art Johnson
Near the end of the report it mentions a short lived Canadian Unit, 25 days. 1st Canadian Centaur Battery (SP) equiped with 95mm guns. I have searched through my references and cannot find anything about the equipment this unit used. No mention of a chassis type nor can I find anything on a 95mm gun. The guns had originally been manned by the Royal Marines.

Art,
This would be refering to the Centaur IV equipped with a 95mm howitzer. the Royal Marine used them as close support tanks. They came ashore on the Normandy landings at Juno beach with the Canadians.

Richard

[Dana Nield]

Here is a link to some pictures of the Centaurs as used in Normady by the RM.

http://www.dana-nield.com/aa/referen...II/Centaur.asp

Cheers!

Dana

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

What kind of running gear are those guns mounted on ..Looks like T-34 or Christie running gear...

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally posted by Alex Blair
What kind of running gear are those guns mounted on ..Looks like T-34 or Christie running gear...

The Centaur is an evolution of the standard Cromwell. Hanno and I know a chap in England with more than one of them, albeit in bits.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
The Centaur is an evolution of the standard Cromwell. Hanno and I know a chap in England with more than one of them, albeit in bits.

Geoff,
Centaurs were powered by the Nuffield built Liberty V-12 and the Cromwell of course had a Rolls Meteor.
There are two running Centaurs in England to my knowledge, Dennis Roberts has one (used in Band of Brothers) and Preston Issac has one, although it was many years back when I last saw it fired up.

Richard

[Mark W. Tonner]

Hi Art;

Notes on 1st Canadian Centaur Battery, R.C.A.:

- 1st Canadian Centaur Battery, RCA, was formed on 6 Aug 1944 and disbanded on 30 Aug 1944

- Under command of Major D.W.M. Cooper, R.C.A.

- Took over the Battery equipment of 'X' Armoured Battery, R.A., 6th (British) Airborne Divisional Artillery

- Organization: - Headquarters and 3x Troops

- Each Troop had: 1x Sherman O.P. tank and 4x 95mm Centaur Mk IV

- Total: 3x Sherman O.P.s and 12x 95mm Centaur Mk IV

- Personnel to man the Battery were drawn from No. 12 Canadian Base Reinforcement Battalion and by attachment to the battery of certain Royal Artillery personnel from 'X' Armd Bty (1x Capt, 15x O.R.'s, R. Sigs and 1x R.E.M.E. Fitter (Gun))

- First Action - 17 August 1944

- Battery reorganized on 28 August 1944 from a 12 gun battery to a six gun battery, with the personnel of the six gun crews being returned to the reinforcement stream

- Battery received orders on 29 August 1944 to disband effective 30 August 1944

- The Centaurs were handed over to 259th (British) Armoured Delivery Squadron and it's remaining personnel were returned to the reinforcement stream

Hope this helps Art.

Cheers

[Steve Guthrie]

Hello Art

There WAS a 95mm field gun.

It was a real hodge-podge; 3.7" AA barrel, 6-pdr cradle, 25-pdr breech etc

It all came about because 'someone' thought the British needed an infantry gun, just like the Russians and Germans and Americans.

It did not work!

Illustrations from Hogg's 'British and American Artillery of WW2'

Steve

[Mark W. Tonner]

Hi Art;

Here's what a Centaur Mk IV looks like:

Thanks Steve and everyone else. In my further research I found that some Churchills were also equipped with a 95mm gun.
Another interesting item I came across was that the Brits bored out 6pdr-7cwt barrels to 75mm to use American ammo. That seems a stretch to me (no pun intended).

[John McGillivray]

The British did have their own 75mm gun which was a cross between the American 75mm and the British 6pdr gun. The following is from the Chamberlain and Ellis book “British and American Tanks of World War II”
“75mm Ordnance Quick Firing Mks V and VA
Appearance of the American M3 and M4 medium tanks in British service in late 1942 showed up the inadequacies of the 6pdr. The 75mm gun mounted in these American-built vehicles was the first tank gun used by the British which had a ‘dual purpose’ capability – it could fire HE and AP shot as required, thus matching German tactical flexibility in this respect. As a result of this, the British General Staff asked in December 1942, if similar 75mm guns could be mounted in British tanks and the Ministry of Supply designed a suitable weapon, based on the American gun, which would fit the existing 6pdr mount and fire American ammunition. First vehicle mounting the 75mm gun, the Cromwell IV, appeared in October 1943 and plans were also being made to mount the weapon in the Churchill. At first, however, the 75mm gun proved unsatisfactory due mainly to an inadequate mounting, and teething troubles with this weapon were not finally overcome until March 1944. For the invasion of Europe in June 1944, the 75mm MV (medium velocity) gun was the principal British tank gun for the Cromwell and Churchill, but by then had been outmoded by better German guns, and German tanks (eg, the Panther) which had superior armour thickness.
Weapon details:
Calibre: 2.953 (75mm)
Length of tube: 107.8in
Overall length: 112.576in
Weight: 692lb
Muzzle velocity: 2,030fps
Weight of shot: 13 3/4lb (HE and AP)
Armour penetration: 68mm at 500 yards/30deg
Vehicles fitted: Centaur III, Cromwell IV-VII, Churchill VI and VII, Valentine X & XI, A33.”
Note that the British 75mm was fitted with a muzzle brake and resembled the 6pdr in appearance. The Churchill IV mounted the American 75mm M3.