Centurion Mk 11 Question

[Dan Martel]

Gentlemen,

I have a copy of the War Establishment for a Canadian armoured regiment circa 1968-69 titled Canadian Forces WE 2/3. (CF WE 2/1 was for the Light Armoured Regiment and CF WE 2/2 is the version for a combined tank and infantry unit.)

Under the 'Equipment Summary' are listed 5 different versions of the Centurion Mk 11. Four of the five are unique because of the radios and navigation systems installed (A/A, A/AZ and A/B radios with or without Navaid). The fifth is the version with the dozer blade fitted (A/B radio without Navaid).

Now I know what almost all of the details for each of the unit's vehicles are; ie. FFR means Fitted For Radio and W/W means With Winch etc. The one set of initials that keep recurring, even on the tanks, is 'W/E'. I do not know what W/E means though I'm guessing it has something to do with the electrical system.

Can anyone help? I know it's a small question but the answer would assist me greatly.

Thanks,
Dan.

[JackM]

Dan,

If you were referring to Australian documents, I would say that the 'WE' in the tilte of the document would mean War Establishment (as opposed to Peace Establishment), or in short the personnel and materiel entitlement of a unit in either war or peace. But you've already sussed that out.

Within the body of the document, it is possible that the W/E refers to 'with equipment'. In other words a vehicle with its Complete Equipment Schedule, which can involve significant quantities of stuff, depending on the vehicle.


Jack

[Dan Martel]

Jack,

Thanks for the answer. W/E for 'With Equipment' is obvious (now) and explains why it is appended to each vehicle. I knew it would be simple and probably universally known by the membership here but I have never seen that term explained before. Maybe I've been looking in all the wrong places.

Again, thanks.
Dan.

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally posted by Dan Martel
Jack,

Thanks for the answer. W/E for 'With Equipment' is obvious (now) and explains why it is appended to each vehicle. I knew it would be simple and probably universally known by the membership here but I have never seen that term explained before. Maybe I've been looking in all the wrong places.

Again, thanks.
Dan.

W/E...Wireless equipted..I think..

[Jon Skagfeld]

Nope, Alex...it's "With Equipment", referring to the Equipment Issue Scale (or Check List) peculiar to the particular vehicle.

If it was "Wireless Equipped", it would be "W/T"=Wireless Telephony (aboard).

[Dan Martel]

Alex,

At on time I too thought that maybe W/E meant wireless equipped. However usually those vehicles needing that designation will have the initials FFW (Fitted For Wireless) or FFR (Fitted For Radio) appended to them. Now those two terms may be ones that came about post-war only so it's possible that during the war the use of W/E may have had to do with wireless equipment.

However by the time that the Centurion Mk11 came into service in the late 1960's the use of the word wireless had definitely been replaced by radio in the Canadian Army. So I don't think W/E would have stood for wireless equipped in this instance but I'm always willing to be proven wrong.

As you're from Military Manuals do you have anything that would have a definitive answer that could be referred to?

Thanks,
Dan.

(NOTE: Posted before I read John's answer re: W/T.)