Tanks, Crews, and Models



Tanks, Crews, Books, and Models

Introduction.

The preface of my book 'Canister! On! FIRE! : Australian Tank Operations in Vietnam' (COF), includes the following story:

"I graduated into the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) as a second lieutenant in 1969. Just prior to taking up my posting, I asked Captain Bill (Jungles) Ruttledge, who had been the Armoured Corps instructor during my officer training, if he could recommend a book about what life was like in an armoured unit. It was a surprise to learn that few such accounts had been written. After thinking for a while, he suggested Warriors for the Working Day, by Peter Elstob. This is a fictional story, based on the author’s service in the Royal Tank Regiment during the Second World War. Re-reading it recently, I felt an immediate affinity with the tank crews at the time.

The crew commander, gunner, loader and driver of a Comet tank had essentially the same responsibilities as the crew of a Centurion tank on operations in Vietnam, 25 to 30 years later. This is not altogether surprising, as the first Centurion tanks were built in 1945. The main difference was that Peter Elstob’s story is one of crews perfecting drills to counter enemy tanks and anti-tank guns; whereas our focus was on countering rocket-propelled grenades and antitank mines."

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Background

While working on my book I was contacted by Brigadier Stephen White, MBE (Retd). Stephen's interest in Centurions was multifaceted: he had served with the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR), commanding 2RTR; he had been attached to 1st Armoured and 2nd Cavalry Regiments RAAC as a subaltern in 1973; and furthermore, he was making a one sixth scale model of one.

These models, put together from kits made by the UK firm Armortek (), are highly engineered. As well as being very accurately detailed, they are radio controlled, have an obstacle crossing capability, and produce realistic sound effects from both engine and gun (which recoils on firing).

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Stephen's intention was to base his model on a Centurion which had been operated in Vietnam. He subsequently considered a couple of different tanks, finally deciding on ARN 169064. This was 22Bravo at Binh Ba (Barry Bennier) and 2Alpha on Operation Hammersley ('Rip' Riley); importantly, it is now in private ownership and being restored. Background research and the model's on-going construction can be seen here .

The Elstob Link

While in England in May (2014) I caught up with Brigadier White. He noticed that I had referred to Peter Elstob in COF and thought I might be interested in a related story. Prior to starting on his Centurion model, he had completed a model of a Comet, also to one sixth scale. Looking for an actual tank on which to base his project, he came across T335335, 'Celerity' [noun: swiftness, speed]. This happened to have been the Comet commanded by Peter Elstob during WWII.

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Before long Stephen was being helped in his research by someone else with a vested interest, Dr Stephen Pannell, the son of Elstob's driver. Together they traced the life of the tank from manufacture in 1944, through WWII operations with 3RTR in Germany, to its time in Hong Kong from 1949 to 1959 (then renumbered 20ZR65). Whether it was one of the Comets later offered to Australia is unknown (see COF Vol 1, p27). The story of the model's research and construction is recorded at: . 'Celerity', seen 'tarped down' in the photo, has also become the subject of a number of plastic model kits.

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The Aller Crossing

But there's more …

Sergeant Elstob was involved in establishing a bridgehead for the crossing of the Aller River in Germany in April 1945. Apart from War Diaries etc, there are two published accounts of this action: 'The Sharp End : A Personal Account of Life in a Tank Unit in the Second World War' by Major John Langdon MC; and 'A View from the Turret : A History of 3RTR in the Second World War' by Bill Close.

Langdon, Elstob's troop leader (1 Tp, A Sqn), recounts how they had just put on a brew when a Tiger tank appeared. Not being able to react quickly enough to prevent the troop corporal's tank being knocked out, they were lucky that the Tiger broke off contact because of fading light. Fortunes were reversed next morning. The Tiger appeared side-on to a tank from C Sqn 3RTR; the entry hole made by the Comet's 77mm AP round can be seen in the photo below.

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The German tank, callsign F01, was one of six Tiger Is under command of Oberleutnant Fehrmann. More information can be found at: . Like 'Celerity', it is the subject of a number of model kits.

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Conclusion

The three tanks, Centurion ARN 169064, Comet T355355 and Tiger F01, were crewed by armoured soldiers of different nations. Some of these men were killed in action, some were wounded. All, however, shared the unique bond of having been an AFV crewman. Models and publications such as those above (and restored AFVs) serve to remind us of them.

Footnotes:

1. According to the son of Peter Elstob's driver, rather than being "a fictional story" (see Introduction), Warriors for a Working Day is autobiographical in large part.

2. Another person I caught up with in the UK was Simon Dunstan, the prolific author of AFV publications. His next book, a magnum opus on the Centurion (including sections on its operational service worldwide), is to be launched on 15 Sep 16. This, of course, is the Centenary of the first action involving tanks at the Battle of Flers-Courcellette (part of the First Battle of the Somme which commenced on 1 Jul 16) The 49 Mark I tanks achieved mixed results: some were knocked-out by enemy fire; some broke down; and some ditched; others, however, successfully destroyed enemy strong points. Importantly, commanders saw the potential and orders were given for the urgent manufacture of as many tanks as possible. As the saying goes ... the rest is history.

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