PAGE 3

Revisit to 169096

that under

C/S 21C  Crew Commander Cpl Geoff Bennett 

Saw action at Binh Ba

I drove up to Wangaratta today with a close friend, John Clifford to introduce a prospective buyer to Andrew, for 169096.

We left early at 7.45 am, and met with Ian at 10am after a nice relaxed drive, and then drove out to Andrew's property. A few handshakes with everyone and it was down to the shed. This had been damaged in a storm and now had lost part of the roof. There were two tanks there 169096 and 169085. Both had been driven there in the early 1990's and sat there ever since. Andrew hooked up a couple of big batteries to 169096 and gave her a go. She turned over nicely, but as there was no fuel it was not started, but it was nice to see her turn over. Andrew will fuel her up and have her running for the next inspection. Ian appeared to like the tank but there is a committee to be consulted first so hopefully it will be sold, and if so its going to a good home.

      I have been asked to put up some photos of just what is it that makes the Mk 5/1Aust different from the Mk 5. So today I took a few photos and included are the main items.

Just about all the Cents now have the front guards cut back, as above but in Vietnam they were cut back even further and the guards made from 1/4" plate.

The rear guards were also cut back on an angle, this one appears to have had an extension piece added

The right hand barrel hole looking at the picture was where the old Besa 7.62 was mounted in the Mk 3. The fitting of the .30 cal into this position made the tank a Mk 5 It was later bored out to take the .50 cal ranging gun and another barrel hole was drilled to the left, where the .30 was repositioned. This was in the Mk 5 / 1 (Aust.) All the Vietnam tanks had this modification.

This is the B Barrel with counter weights

The smoke dischargers on both sides of the turret, these were damaged and torn off so often in Vietnam that they were removed, but refitted when back in Australia

The two radio antenna mounts are in good condition, with screw fittings still in place.

The turret casting numbers

The spare road wheel mount and omega bracket. The bracket was often bent in at the bottom allowing the wheel to hang on the top hook and allow easy removal. Rather than undo the two bolts it could just be lifted up and off the top hook.

The fitting of the spare track links was an Australian idea

The IR cage the searchlight was fitted into the left section. The wheel on the right was for a telephone cable, and mostly removed in Vietnam

A rear view of 169096, showing the tow rope and 100 gallon fuel tank

The sliding bins from inside the turret of the operators side. These held two rounds each and could be slid left or right. They could also be removed when not required, with little trouble

Another shot of the smoke dischargers

169085 is the left front idler wheel and 169096 is the right one, note the different design.

Mixing the idler wheels would cause the tank to pull either left or right and on long straight runs could burn out a steering brake

The glacis plate number

Hopefully next time I see this shed, 169096 will be moving out to be loaded for a trip to her new home.

SPARE PARTS

Looking back at some old photos I took of Tim Vibert's storage shed I thought a look at them as worth while

You cannot always believe what you see

Birth Controller

2A.  Hell I have seen 2A on a heap of tanks, would have to be a favorite number

Also Birth Controller --- this was the name and painted much the same on 169108 which served in Vietnam

BUT this is a 105 barrel and was never on 169108 and only one of these barrels were ever fitted to  Centurion in Australia, and that was169031, the Gate Guard at Puckapunyal. And that was only because no 20 pounder barrels were available, when she was rescued from the range.

Wonder what the story was behind this barrel??

Want a brand new Final Drive, quite a few around here

Half a dozen new road wheels

                            Something for everyone                                                                Need a new transmission

                                  Top rollers                                                            Front guard extensions

Want a used V12

There is $5000 in one heap

More transmissions

Suspension stations without springs

Then there is the odd turret laying around

An odd mix, front idler wheel suspension spring and some more road wheels

Plenty of new tracks and another transmission

And another pair of transmissions

SOME MORE ON THE .30 Cal BUILD

A snug fit in the mount

The fitting of the un-drilled barrel base and pistol grip

The sliding tube for the cocking bar is also installed

The barrels will be stainless steel and will have the cooling holes laser cut.

On this mount you can see the locking lever for the cocked action

We are waiting on some machined items, end of barrel, Flash eliminator fitting and so forth

She is coming along quite well and we are pleased with the results so far.

The display that I made up for the Vietnam Veterans Museum

They have now made a case for it, which looks excellent - Unfortunately they have not connected the power to the turntable, so at this point of time the Centurion is stationary, a fault I do hope they will remedy quite soon.