Obtaining and restoring
the
Centurion Main Battle Tank Mk 5/1 (Aust)
ARN 169016

MEET

"THE WIDOW MAKER"

169016 was one of four tanks purchased by the Grollo Brothers. They in turn donated her to the National Vietnam Veterans Museum around October 2000

She is not a runner at this time. She has a seized engine.
 
There is another tank in front of her and it's 169088

Ready to be pulled out from her resting place, note the roadwheels laying in the grass on the right.
 
The Army assisted with the transportation as a training exercise --- The A Frame being installed

The D6 coming in to be hooked up
 
Starting to pull 169016 out of her resting place.
 
And out she comes.
 
Out and ready to be loaded onto the low loader

Backing the low loader in to pick up 169016
 
The D6 pushing her onto the low loader for transport to San Remo.
 
All loaded up ---- just a few advert signs being installed.
 
Arriving at San Remo
 
Backing through the cut down fence at the rear of the San Remo museum
 
Now this is how we will do this job - The CMF unit did the unload as an exercise

Some help from an Army wrecker was indeed a bonus - A Centurion does NOT roll off a trailer
 
A cable hooked to the rear of the tank and then the wrecker starts to pull her off
 
No one in the drivers seat so blocks were thrown under the tracks to jam the roadwheels.
This unfortunately took  a few days to release the blocks - they were well jammed in place.
 
169016 has sat in the back yard since it had been delivered, complete with a seized motor. The motor is now turning over but that is it at the moment. She is indeed a sorry looking Centurion having sat here exposed to the salt air for many years. But with a non starting motor it's a bit hard to push her anywhere.

I did feel sorry for the old girl and wanted to do something for her but at this point not sure just what format this would take.
It was at this point of time that I made the statement that there was {not counting the Centurion} not much in the way of internal display of ARMOUR, in fact it consisted of a Beret without a badge!
John Methven suggested I do something about it and so I became the Curator of Armour for the Museum
This has led to a labour of love covering the last 5 years
Hunting for and obtaining items for the Armour section has just about filled in my time over this period
 
So here she sat for another six years.
 
There was a lot to do to her and just where to start to achieve any sort of positive results .

Rust and the salt air were having an effect on her now. The next job was to move her to the new Museum site on Phillip Island.
 
The Army helped with the move.
 
Crossing the bridge from San Remo to Phillip Island.
 
Ready to unload her.

The Police Escort offered help to unload her but did not seem to have enough grunt
Now if they had a Ford!

Now at the new Museum, undercover for the first time

I did want to clean up the hull but it was not my intention to have it in showroom condition as my thoughts were to have her as a tank just returning from a battle experience, so many dents and so forth have been left as they are. We did replace one section of mudguard as it was considered dangerous to the public, but it would have looked good as battle damage -- front guards were ripped off and damaged on just about a daily basis.
Anyway this was what I had to start with!
 

The tank did not have a rear turret basket or IR light cage, depending on your name for it. So one had to be obtained which in itself was a big job. One was found at Wangaratta for $400 and then sandblasted and painted and delivered to Phillip Island
 
Sandblasted and painted and at the back door of the museum waiting to be installed.
 
The Turret basket in place. At present many years have passed and we are now setting the tank up for display.
This is not a Vietnam Tank but has been presented as a tank from the Vietnam service in looks only. It has the mods fitted to the Centurions when they went to Vietnam and also the many mods fitted by crews and LAD in country. This unit does represent modifications carried out on all four tours so it does not represent any particular Vietnam Centurion but more or less all of them.

The picture above shows the Rear turret basket or IR light cage holding fuel jerry cans and the Crew Commanders Call Sign plate
The call sign shows  the Squadrom (2=B sqn in this case) and the troop (4 Troop ) and the crew commander (A=Troop Sgt.)

(24 would be the troop officer ---24A the troop Sgt--- 24B the troop corporal and 24C most often a trooper as Crew Commander)

This shot shows the water cans carried on the transmission covers, a couple of spare rounds, a long handle shovel and some star pickets.
These black plastic water cans were the hardest items to obtain. They were available new at about $32 each but I wanted them a lot cheaper than that as their only purpose was display. In time I did obtain all I required but it was a long job. A coat of flat black paint had them looking great. The system was "we have the room lets carry the water"  which was used for the crew and often supplied to troops in the field as well. There was also a few rounds carried on the engine covers as well, as extra rounds were always welcome.

The shower used on the Centurion. You need three people to have a shower. One on the gun control to traverse the shower to 6 o'clock, over the rear deck where the second guy fills the shower from the black plastic jerry cans. The gun is then traversed to 3 o'clock where the third guy is standing --nude -- and he proceedes to have a shower, then everyone changes position. This did tend to upset the infantry guys that had to carry their drinking water on their backs and even then did not enough to have a wash!

Every tank more or less carried what they wanted on the rear -- this one shows a soldiers trunk with extra .50 and .30 cal ammo liners
They could never carry enough ammo and a lot of extra round were carried in this way.
 
The tools carried on the rear beside the mufflers were very hard to obtain and so most were purchased new -- modified and painted.
 
The crowbar was indeed hard to find and I was lucky to have the four pickheads.

The infra Red spotlight was valued at $2000 but I was able to obtain one for $800. The money for this item was donated inside of one day.
The people donating, mostly required that I do not list their names, but I can say while some were very close friends I have met while on this project, many I have never seen or spoken with, except on the internet. Their generosity has amazed me. There have also been many business people that I have approached, and I have never had a knock back --- these requests range from $20 worth of items up to $600 value. Fantastic!

These .30 cal ammo boxes sell for about $16 --- $20 each -- I managed to obtain them for $5 each --- The Fifty's liners I owned myself.

Empty Brass and clips were like hens teeth and I brought some 50 cal fired tracer projectile from America. $1 each here in Australia but I obtained mine for $55 for 200 from America and that included all costs and postage. Which included an experience with both Customs and the Victorian Police Firearms department --All of who proved to be very helpful, but time consuming-- believe me it pays to contact them first instead of last.
 
These are some steel jerry cans I brought for Brad Baker in Qld. I thought these would be very costly and hard to get but in fact were quite cheap and there were heaps around

These five are mine and cost $16 the lot.
 
I would no longer store fuel in them but they make a great display
 
Painted and looking like new again
 
I had these under my workbench for years and now found a use for them -- never laugh at a hoarder!
 
A bottom mount for the Flex machine gun on the turret cupola, you more or less have to make this item now, but I was lucky a few years ago to obtain this one, from some tanks being wrecked at Gerogery just past Albury.
 
A few items I had in my collection, the shoulder holster in now worn by the Cent Crew Commander.
 

I was given this full size model  of a M16 and obtained the pieces to go with it. The original Vietnam flag was also donated at the same time, by Brenton Shevlin --- a serving Armoured chap from Puckapunyal
The gun had been dropped and broken so I glued it together and gave it a coat of paint - it's came up great.
 
I made up this display and the tank is a 1/25 model that John Loughman modified for me to the full Vietnam configuration. It is on an electric turntable that rotates it every minute --- shows two 20 pounder round and the .30 and .50 cal machine gun rounds.

This display was later installed in a glass case, but I had never been happy with the projectile on the left. Safe projectiles are close to impossible to obtain, and this one had been made into an ashtray. But it was all we were able to obtain

But turned over and polished it did the job  

Then Rusty Dyson donated a Smoke projectile and I was able to change it over 

See below

The projectile as I received it

Repainted and installed in the shell casing

Some of the tools installed on the Centurion.
 
The black plastic water containers carried on the rear of the tank. This gave them about 55 gallons of fresh water and with the shower bucket they could and did take shower while on patrol.

"Fred", our driver being installed by myself. "Fred" was donated by Rhees Cowley from Melbourne Mannequins hire.
 
Fred the driver in position in the drivers seat.

Fred has now obtained a colt 45 and holster, and for display purposes it will be hung on the right drivers hatch as otherwise it would not be seen. While we had real and imitation colts we were only allowed to display them in our Armoury. So Fred and Boris were given plastic toy guns that look the part as only the butt will be visable in the holsters. There was then the worry that they may be stolen, so the barrels are given a liberal coating of "Hard as nails" and inseted into the holsters -- two days later they can never be removed. The holsters were then positioned and using rivets, the belts were locked.

"Boris" our crew commander in position. "Boris" was donated by Dale Grant from Surplus Sam Militaria.  You would not believe the cost and trouble involved in obtaining the bits to add on, like holster-- earphones -- beret and badge and goggles." Boris" came complete with all these items. Then belts packs and  water bottles. The full set of scopes were donated by Brad Baker, these alone are worth about $1000. Both these models were donated .

 
This is 169016 which has an early model barrel -- An "A" Barrel -- Note nothing on the barrel except the end balance weights

This is a Vietnam serving Centurion, they all had a "B" Barrel fitted -- Note no balance weights on the end and a fume extractor in the middle of the barrel. "B" Barrels are not obtainable anywhere, so we had to convert what we had!
 

So meet " The Widow Maker."

Now move down to see the work involved in getting here!



 
All this had to come off --eaiser said than done.

The first section is removed --with an angle grinder

Next job all this has to come off, we wanted to cut the barrel about 6 inches up and then turn it in  a lathe and then re-weld it back, but in fact it was all removed with an angle grinder also.

Halfway there and looking good.
 
The fume extractor was fabricated and installed
 
 The finished and repainted barrel end.

The crew commanders water bottles in place, hanging from the base mount for the 30 cal flex machine gun
 
The Infra Red searchlight and mounting bar was purchased and installed.
 
The Searchlight comes with two lens, a white for searchlight and a red for infra red night view. When used as a white light, they were shot out very quickly, drawing fire immediately. The red light was quickly installed which was much safer.

The mounting bar was fabricated as an exact copy.
 
Two road wheels were obtained and installed on the Glacis plate

The road wheels as we obtained them. They were in a skip waiting to go to the tip when a member recognised them and recovered the items for us. Just about worth their weight in gold!
 
Then the two machine guns, a .30 cal and a .50 cal were obtained and installed as well as the drivers helmet.
 
The Crew Commanders .30 cal ammo rack for the flex .30 cal complete with PRC77 Radio that was used to make contact with the Infantry.

Note the mud scrapers on the muffler housing 

Please take due care when around tanks----------------------

I have placed a flip book in front of the Centurion with many photos and descriptions that will explain various items on the Centurion to the lay person  ---- Hopefully to allow you to enjoy and understand the display.

The tac signs have been painted on
 
And the barrel name as well
 
We are getting close to the end now. Only need a flex .30 cal mount and a machine gun to finish it all off .

This is an original mount with the remote folding arm for firing from inside the turret  This was never used so I decided to make the new mount without it. This is an early type mount with a liner holder and strap arrangement where as the later ones had a steel frame to hold the liner (Ammo box) in position.

This was the finished job with the liner box removed.
 
The full mount with the liner box in place.
 
The liner box should be level not on an angle.
 
Rewelded and primed.

 
 Stripped and painted

 Painted and assembled ready to go down to the museum this week

Back down again on Sept. 4th and the mount is installed some more 30 cal liners placed where thrown during action and glued in position.
 
"Fred", gets his Colt and holster. We had to be careful that it was not stolen, so the (plastic toy gun) was placed in the holster with a large amount of "hard as nails" and left to set. No way it will come out now. The holster belt was threaded under and over the right hatch cover and adjusted to position. The belt then had rivets installed that cannot be seen. The belt now cannot be undone, so hopefully it will not be removed.

People can see how much room the driver has. Here he is sitting in the "opened up position" EG: the seat fully up and head and shoulders out of the compartment. This is the most common position but the driver is exposed. He drives by ear (The sound of the motor revs) as his dashboard and gauges are hard to read from this position.
The other position the driver can use is EG: "Closed down". In this position the driver drops the seat down and closes the two hatch covers. He now see's through two scopes in the hatch covers. This gives him limited view sideways and also in height. He now drives using his rev counter but in actual fact he still listens to the engine revs and more or less uses his gearbox by instinct. He is controlled in his steering by the crew commander. This position would in Vietnam been very hot and about 20 minutes would be the length of driving with the hatches closed.


But there are three more crew in the Centurion, Gunner, Operator and Crew Commander

The two photos below were taken at the Bovington Tank Museum in the U.K.

This Centurion was cut straight down the middle by army apprentices as an exercise, and it shows the turret crews position and the amount of room they had.

These photos show a view that is not available to people other than those that can access a Centurion Turret, something that cannot be done in this museum.

The right hand side of the Centurion Turret. The gunner is sitting in the lowest position. His view is his gunners sight or scope just in front of his forehead. The silver wheel is the manual raise and lower of the main gun. It also has a built in firing button. At his feet are two pedals for firing the .30 cal machine gun or the .50 cal ranging gun. He cannot move around at all, and sits there all the time with only a limited forward view through his sight.

The Crew Commander sits behind him raised up about a foot on an adjustable seat. They are in the closed down position EG: The cupola lid is closed and only sights or scopes for vision. The Crew Commander has the same vision through his gun sight a sthe gunner, but also has scopes around the cupola. The cupola can also be swivelled 180 degrees. When running opened up, the crew commander can stand on his seat and like the driver have his head and shoulders exposed. This is the best position for firing the .30 cal flex that the Crew Commander has fitted on the cupola. This machine gun can be fired from inside the tank using an extension unit but it was very rarely used. The Crew Commander has a lot more movement than the gunner!

The operator / loader is positioned on the left side of the Turret. He has a drop down seat behind him but does not get a lot of time to use it. He can stand upright, move back and forth about four feet and has a width area about 18" to 2 Ft. His main job is watching and maintaining and netting in (adjusting) two and sometimes three radios. Loading the main gun with the big 20 pounder rounds removing empty shell casings. Selecting the various rounds from either the ready bins on the side of the turret, from the wine rack where he may need to move the turret or from the under floor bins where he will have to move the turret. He also has to load and keep working the .30 and .50 cal machine guns, change ammo liners (Box's) clear stoppages (Jammed machine guns). In his spare time he also has to make the brew! I would not be an operator for love nor money! His view is through a scope, but he can watch out through his hatch and also ride on the hatch when all is quiet. He does have the most movement of all the tank crew, but also the most work.

These two photos supplied by my friend, Roly Davey, with thanks.

Last job for the day was to install the last fire extinguisher and also the shower was hung from the rear of the IR light cage.

We now have the barrel for the 30 cal flex.
 
There is no bore, as from one inch inside the barrel front it's all a solid item.
 
The barrel rear which will screw into the main body.
 
The main body with the pistol grip bolted in place.
 
The cocking arm in place - it also is welded in place.
 
Note there is no trigger installed and with the loading flap open its plain to see there are no internal items.
The wire was a item to hold the belt for these photos - it was later replaced with an internal clip!
 
The dummy belt of  rounds installed

The next job was painting - a baked enamel job was required as the paint finish was a flat,  not gloss finish

The finished item looked very good indeed
 
The body was painted in a flat gun metal finish while the barrel and pistol grip was a flat black finish.
This was done by a local panel shop free of charge
 
I am indeed pleased with the outcome as a matter of interest the mileage covered on this item alone was considerable, I estimate about 2000 km and that does not include the 480 km to take it down to the museum and return.

Yesterday I took it down and installed it in the mount
 
And also fixed the empty .30 cal cases onto the turret face
 
The 30 cal belt was installed.
 
Also placed a couple of discarded 30 cal liners in place

"Boris" seemed happy with the setup.
 
The finished item -- there are a couple of small items to finish off but nothing that anyone other than myself would notice -- EG: the cocking lever is a couple of mm to low and hits on the mount body, something which is an easy fix with the angle grinder in about 20 seconds -- next trip.


Click on the address below to see some more photos and also some videos of Centurions being driven When the main page opens on the left you will see Albums and Videos, select which ever you want to view.

http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/Steel-thunder/