Centurion tank 169039 Australian Army in Vietnam 1970-71

[PyR0Star]

hi im looking for what insigina belongs to a half red half yellow square divided at an angle. Was it Austria?

[dpsherry]

@PyR0Star Royal Armoured Corp, Royal NZ Armoured Corp and Royal Australian Armoured Corp and possibly others (i.e. Royal Canadian Armoured Corp - not sure though).

Half red, half yellow divided horizontally is/was Cavalry.

[Kokoda144]

bogged at  0:48?

[StunnedMutha]

too bad this tank just missed out on WWII, would have been britains first success story, no i kid i kid please dont spam me, lol.

[dpsherry]

Guys, any who can help with this question - this is "b" barrel 20 pdr - correct? "A" barrel didn't have the fume extractor - correct? What are the three ribs for on fume extractor of the "b" barrel? I asked this question in 1978 in Skul of tracks in Wiaberia, and none of the WSMs knew. It's destroyed my life ever since...so help before I have to take another blue pill!

[kispro2000]

@dpsherry - Hi - countweights I believe to balance the barrel / breach.... Cheers

[Stallchange]

@kispro2000 all Centurions in Vietnam had the B barrel. A barrel did not have the fume extractor. The three ribs are the counter weights to balance the gun when the .50 cal was fitted. The .50 was a ranging gun for the 20 pounder, it had the same trajectory and saved wasting 20 pounder ammo. All the .50 cal ammo were tracers and was set to fire 3 rounds at a time. It was not intended to be used as a machine gun, the .30 cal and the .30 cal flex did that job, regards Col

[Magpie4000]

@dpsherry They are heat sinks to reduce the heat build up in the fume extractor. Counter weighs were on the end of the muzzle.

[dpsherry]

@Magpie4000 cool thanks!

[LeeEnfeild303]

Where there any real dangers for tank crews during the Vietnam War? I was under the impression that the NVA and VC didn't really have any effective anti tank weapons. I know they had the RPG 7(?) but could it bring down the Centurion or an American Patton?

[spitfireMK22]

Yes the NVA was quit able to destroy Australian and American tanks because the NVA had russian t55's tanks, but there were few Armoured incounters.

[50poiuyt]

Do you know,how many US tanks were destroyed by B40,B41 ?

[MrBowyang]

While it is standard practice for the tank's names to start with the squadron alphabetic designation, there were many departures from this convention in Vietnam. One of ours (4 Bravo) in 4 Tp of A Sqn in 1970 was called 'Clitoris Pubis'. 4 Charlie was 'Lolita'

[4S4K3N3D]

Hi kispro2000, thanks for the great footage!!

I have one question I hope you can answer. I bought the AFV Club model of this, the decals and also decals from Firestorm Models say the Cent. 169039 was called "Pussy Eater"

Is this the same tank? I like the "Cromwell" shown here but can find no other info, just this video and a few photos that show no other markings.

Thanks again and take care.

[kispro2000]

Hi,

I bought the saae model (well you have to buy your 'own' tank dont you!). It may have had the other name at a different time in Vietnam - but from talking to its commander from the time it was definitely Cromwell whilst under his command (choose as a name starting with C for C company and a military commander he admired).

Hope that helps

Jonathan

[4S4K3N3D]

Great help! Cheers :)

Actually, now that I look closer, the date on this footage says 70-71, and the info I've got about the on the other name is post 71. I guess tanks changed names as they changed crew :)

Do you know, is the call sign for the Cromwell "3C"?

[petethebastard]

That'd be C Squadron, not Charlie Company!

[MrKevvie]

The Australian army tanks were (and are) named by squadron conventions A sqn = tank name beginning with A, B sqn = tank name beginning with B and C sqn=tank name beginning with C. I am no expert on regimental history but I dont remember a P Sqn so "Pussy Eater" would not have been correct...sounds a bit American anyway...

[4S4K3N3D]

Cheers MrK. I hadn't made the connection it was standard to give names starting with the squadron call sign. I've never heard of a P Sqn during my research either :)

I've seen photos of a Vietnam Cent. with "Pussy Eater" on it, but it wasn't making any sense when I researched the name against markings. Maybe the Americans "borrowed/used" one or two at some stage during the conflict.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions everybody, it's really awesome of you all :D

[MrBowyang]

@4S4K3N3D

See other post by MrBowyang. The naming conventions were not always followed - certainly in my time (Sep 1969 - Dec 70).

[4S4K3N3D]

@MrBowyang

Cheers MrBowyang. Thanks for the info and sorry for the late response. Don't use YouTube a whole lot and still getting used to it ^_^

I've seen images of the tanks you refer to and I was confused when relating this to the naming conventions. I figured the conventions weren't strictly followed but it's good to hear it from someone in the know.

[Stallchange]

@4S4K3N3D 169039 was indeed called "Pussy Eater" its call sign was 3C

It was also called "Cromwell" Remember there were four tours of Australian Armour

"C" "B" "A" and again "C" sqn. all had used different names. The bin names wers mostly Sqn while the barrel names were more or less anything you wanted. Whilst in Vietnam the Crew Commanders call sign was the main way to recognise a tank,

but in one case I know of the Crew commander changed tanks three times in one day

[Mrbob200]

the tank in NZ really belongs to the Aus army for people who dont know is it True that the place now has a T-70

[kispro2000]

Erm...we own both the (Ex-Australian Army) Centurion and now have and now also own a T-55 (but no T-70) plus many more vehicles.

[rbgchec]

this thing is a beast! got ta drive it in Christchurch NZ at 'Tanks For Everything' just a fwew days ago.

only got into 3rd gear though the crash gear box is a B!*$*h to drive haha, ausome funn though would recommend it to anyone down those ways who wants ta try something a lil diferent to their usual drive :P

[kispro2000]

THi

hanks for the comment - and glad you enjoyed your drive!

[critch1901]

@rbgchec You gotta do a stick change on a Cent for a fast gear change. Acts like a clutch brake on old non synchro gearboxes. In other words you have to pull on one of the steering levers as you go through the neutral gate to the next gear. Takes a bit of practice and you gotta be a good driver!!1

[dpsherry]

@rbgchec Imagine, being a boy racer in CHCH with that baby? You sure wouldn't need to worry about earthquake damage, eh?

[helghasttrooper5073]

I saw 2 centurians firing just the other day, it was real good until the clutch broke on one and the other had an electrical failure. Very potent tanks for there time.

[kispro2000]

Where were the firing ones? - ours was de-activated on release from the army sadly.

[helghasttrooper5073]

This was in Merredin, a 5 hours drive from Perth, Western Australia. They were actually civilian owned, but sponsored by the ADF. Both tanks were refurnished and in full working order, suprisingly. They even kept the origional 105mm rifled guns. Apart from the odd misfunction, they were both in very capable condition.

[driftrunner5015]

aussie cents were never fitted with 105 mm gun . they all used the 20pdr

[helghasttrooper5073]

oh really, sorry mate i must have heard wrong, 20pdr it is then.

[Northseafool]

My dad was tearing around Aden in a mk4 and can still tell you all the oiling points and greases used...not that interesting after 700 times ;)...

[heatseeker64]

Outstanding footage! I'm a big fan of the Aussie Cent!

[helghasttrooper5073]

this tank just missed out on ww2, such a shame.

[tbat123]

its always amazed me how a tank that was designed for use in europe in the 1940s and 50s could be still be so useful in southeast asia 20 or so years later.

[40thCapeRifles]

What did they (or you if there's any operators reading this) use for the the ARV? It looks like you guys sometimes had a heck of a time getting through those swamps.

And was that an IR lamp on the turret?

[kispro2000]

Hi

Centurion ARV.

Yes its an IR spotlight

[a47en]

The ARV was a centurion tank minus the turret.  It had a 50 cal machine gun plus the crews side arms for protection. It also had fitted a straight 8 motor to operate the winch. At the rear was a large spade that was lowered and dug into the soil to prevent the ARV from being pulled backwards when it was pulling tanks out of the dirt. The hawsers were 2 inch diameter steel cable. 2 foot diameter pulleys were used as well to get a better mechanical advantage on the cable.

[ringworks]

Great footage. Thanks

[chunkeyhotdog144]

go u sons of ANZACs!

[nighthawk006]

Never know what you'll find on You Tube. I saw this tank crushing cars on Television New Zealand's Breakfast programme a couple of weeks ago. Nice post!

[kispro2000]

Thanks - I still think its very odd to see 'our' Cent when it was in a war. Interesting footage nevertheless.