harry7134

One situation when the neutral turn ability comes into its own is when connecting the "A" frame from a casualty on to the Cent ARV. The pins used are a tight fit in the holes at the ends of the arms , and have a "twist to lock" function. The two arms are put on the casualty (easy), and then the other ends of the arms fitted to the butterfly. which swivels, (not so easy). Then this triangle has to be lifted to the correct height and held up, generally by a wooden block, again not easy. Then comes the fun part, trying to get the towing eye on the ARV to mate up with the butterfly. One method is to stand on the ARV spade and use a long extension microphone lead to guide the driver. The machined pin always refuses to go all the way home and generally sticks about half way in. Now comes the neutral turn, or more correctly the driver is told to "wiggle", ie engage neutral and handbrake, and gently pull steering tillers one at a time , making the tank do a wiggle. The pin will then eventually drop in, but often still need persuading with hammer and anchor pin to turn. Some experience is needed knowing just how hard to engage the handbrake to allow the tank to move enough without it rolling away. One trick I learn`t off an old Reccy Mech was to put a "Torch Right Angled Head" on each of the casualty`s mudguards, facing forwards, and , if your ARV had mirrors fitted, these would give the driver aiming points for lining the vehicles before connecting.

Chas, I have come across this problem before, but with a 434. All the checks mentioned before were carried out, but to no avail, it still "pulled" to one side, more so seemingly the faster the vehicle speed. And this was a REME wagon, and we were supposed to be able to fix it.:embarrassed: Several theories were expounded, even down to loading the equivalent wieght to the crane on the opposite side of the wagon. But nothing worked. The solution was almost as silly as the fault. What we did, and remember this was with almost limitless manpower and time, was to remove both tracks completely, split them equally into eight parts, mix the parts indiscriminately, rejoin them , and refit to 434 Amazingly it worked! In fact the regular driver , who was so used to his wagon wandering, then had trouble for a while staying on the straight and narrow. Again , I must emphasise, this was an extreme fix, and we had time and men to spare. Also there is no logical reason for it to work again. Harry

Adrian, I agree with your reasoning, and must admit that without any form of evidence, I concede :cry:. But you know how it is when you get an idea that just wont go away:undecided: !!!!! Harry.

Hi. On the thread " Metal or Rubber Tracks" (10/10/09 ), I ventured the fact that Centurion metal tracks were fitted backwards to avoid road damage. I was asked to substantiate this, and have spent a lot of time trying to do so. I cannot come up with anything in writing, except for one small reference to Centurion BARV`s reversing their tracks for more grip, and a few ad hoc comments from old "tankies" that " My Cent wouldn`t slide like this if I could put the tracks on the right way round". The BARV comment does however seem to bear out this fact that reversing the tracks from their peacetime fitting, in order to get more grip, coupled with the fact that the BARV seemed to spend more time pushing than pulling. One more thing I have been told was that during the Cold War, there was a period when the Dozer tanks from the tank regiments in Germany were on standby to go to dig up the Autobahns in the event of a Russian advance. Part of the preparation for this was for the crews to practice fitting the tracks the "wrong way" round. However , I can find no written proof of this ever being done. To the comment that the tank manuals state that the tracks should be fitted as seen in any photograph, I can only comment that all these manuals are "peacetime" versions, and I very much doubt if there are any "wartime" ones in existence. In all this I am in no way trying to be controversial, but I am certain that I was told in good faith by a Tankie that his tracks were "on backwards". Harry.

Iain, Did you get all my PM? Harry.

First apologies for the grainy photo. If you look at the ends of each link, you will see that the curved ends when they meet the surface are facing to the front, ie sliding over the road, but if they were fitted the right way round, the straight edges of these "horns" would dig in .

Probably a Conqueror, but with the original exhausts, as the version with the exhausts that made it sound like a Bedford RL completely ruined the macho image! Harry.

A little lamp swinging. Once upon a time,in a magical wood, in the mystical land of West Germany, a young fitter was inflating the front wheel of his half-tracked chariot. According to the regulations in his instructions from the gods on high, he must ensure that the pressure in his wheel equelled seventy pounds per square inch. As he approached the required number suddenly the tyre split asunder with a mighty bang, and the poor lad was bowled over, ending some feet away, some would say asleep. This was not the case, for in fact he was unconscious, from the blast of air that hit him in the nether regions. The moral of this story is that compressed air can be equally as dangerous as split rims. Harry:coffee:

Thanks for photos ,agripper, saved me a lot of searching, but brought back a lot of memories too! Liked your Barv pictures, never had the good (?) fortune to work on them. Harry.

Hi Iain, Are the misfiring cylinders adjacent? If so I would lean towards a blown head gasket before rings, and a head gasket change is not a job to be taken lightly. Personally I would look at the spark plugs first before anything else. This in itself can be a long drawn out job, we used to be allowed twenty four hours for a complete plug change! An almost essential tool is a "crowfoot" spanner, for the plugs under the inlet manifold, and a friend who does not get dizzy from hanging upside down to reach the others. If you do not have such a spanner let me know and between myself and my next door neighbour, who was also a tank mechanic, we should be able to knock up a drawing of one. Basically it is an open ended spanner, cut back almost to the jaws and then welded to a universal joint, which is itself welded to a "T" piece handle, the length of which escapes me at the moment. Any idea of the age and mileage of the engine, and ( don`t laugh), what colour is it? Has the tank been standing idle for a long time? What colour is the exhaust smoke? Its been almost forty years since I worked on Cents, so all this is from a beer warped memory! Just found this:- www.aecmilitant.co.uk/downloads/meteormanual.pdf which might help if you are not familiar with the engine. Harry.

One snowy, frosty, icy winter in Germany, I was taking a Centurion tank back to its unit after some repairs in the workshop. The route went across the airfield, and the runway crossing was controlled from the tower by a set of traffic lights. Timing it so the lights were on green, I built up a fair speed when the lights suddenly changed to red! Well I tried to stop , but ended up doing a graceful half turn and slid, with locked tracks , straight across the runway. Big trouble, until I took the airfield controller guy out for a run in a tank, and showed him that stopping fifty odd tons of metal on icy roads was not an option! Incidentally, did you know that all the metal tracks fitted on Centurions, were fitted backwards, to avoid damaging the road surfaces too much. All that is except for one unit`s ARV, which had one track backwards, and one forwards. He was very easy to keep track of!! (Sorry). Harry.

Nice to see an ex QOH man here. I was attached to them twice, well after your time, but enjoyed every minute. Harry (ex REME).

Still in service, if only as a tourist attraction! Mons Meg is over 550 years old, one of the world’s oldest cannons. Mons Meg is one of two giant siege guns given to James II of Scotland in 1457. Built at Mons, Belgium, she represented the cutting edge of military technology. She weighs over 6,000kg, and fired 150kg stone cannonballs. - Mons Meg was probably first used in 1460 at Roxburgh Castle near the border with England. During this battle, James II was fatally wounded when another giant siege cannon exploded. - In 1489, she was taken 80km (50 miles) west to Dumbarton Castle, to help subdue the Earl of Lennox. - Mons Meg’s huge weight made her very difficult to move. Her average speed was just 5km (3 miles) per day. In the 1540s she was withdrawn from active service and kept in Edinburgh Castle for use as a saluting gun. - She was fired in 1558 to celebrate the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to the French Dauphin; and again in 1681, as a birthday salute for the future King James VII. This time, the gun barrel burst. The fractured hoops can still be seen. -·In 1754, Mons Meg was taken to the Tower of London, where she remained for 75 years. But eventually the novelist Sir Walter Scott and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland persuaded George IV to return her. Mons Meg was brought back to the castle in 1829. - The royal flag was raised from the battlements and the crowds cheered. Mons Meg, one of the most powerful medieval guns, had come home. Ps The wife refused to be nominated. Harry.

This is how they looked when converted to a fitters vehicle.

So setting up the "D" lever would be out of the question then ,Bob? You are dead right about the Chieftain GUE giving the batteries a boost, it was when it was idling that the exhaust problem occurred. The hydraulic start was just a hydraulic starter powered by a pump driven by the genny, and hated by all mechanics as too finicky and unreliable. I once bump started a Chieftain by pushing it down a hill with my Cent ARV and telling the driver to bang it into gear when he thought it was going fast enough. The tank started ,but the crew did not speak to me for quite a while! (God knows what it did to the transmission!)

Not as well known, but a handsome beast for all that, Conqueror ARV

Hi abn duece, Its a long time since I saw a photo of a converted half track! I used to drive one in Germany, and it was an art form just to avoid hitting things with that jib as it projected nearly twelve feet(nearly four metres) in front of the bumper, added to which there was only a tiny windscreen, about eight inches wide, to see out of. Having said that, the traction was superb, enough to "bump" start tanks. The major tank assemblies were towed in one ton Sankey trailers. I have gone through a wood, complete with trailer, mud completely over the top of the tracks, in first gear, low box with hand throttle all the way out and no steering, and still not got stuck. One of the worst things about being the driver was when winching the control of the winch was through the clutch, and as you were too low down to see what was happening, you relied on shouts from the rest of the crew for going up and down, but on a Centurion engine change you could be stuck with your foot on the clutch pedal for hours. And God help you if you were not instantly ready to" go down a gnats". Oh and as the driver you also had to make the tea and sarnies! Each vehicle was completely individual to drive, and as they were coming to the end of their service,we could modify as much as we liked. Some of the mods were; metal roofs, driving seats from Opel Records, four bunk beds in rear, electric shaving sockets, ( courtesy of a voltage converter from some radio), extra batteries for radios, "Workhorse" generators mounted on the outside,individual reading lights on each bunk, racks for carrying fuel and oils, thirty gallon coolant tanks mounted on the front of the roof,and in one case, a petrol cooker with chimney through the roof. Since we lived in these things for about six months each year, it was sensible to have as many home comforts as possible. Sorry if I`ve rabitted on, but nostalgia is a powerful spear. Harry.

Thank you for your welcome(s).

Him A long time since this question , but, yes it is the Aux Gen which is started up quite a long time before battle as the gyroscopes controlling the gun stability have to "spin up" to speed, and the main engine generator could not handle this, as well, as Andrew says, all the radio gear, turret traversing , etc. Incidentally, on a Chieftain, the G U exhaust used to "coke up" if just running normal electrics, so to clear them the metadynes and gyros were switched on, causing sparks and burning carbon to shoot out of the exhaust. This has been known to set the prairie grass alight in Canada, and was quite spectacular after dark. One tank that never had this problem was commanded by an officer who could not map read, and first thing in the morning he would spend some time finding out which way was north, then put his gun barrel on that bearing, start up his GU, and switch on his stabilising gear. His ruse came to an end when he had to lead with his gun in the transporting crutch over the rear decks, and promptly got lost!

Hello, My name is Harry, and I am an exREME VM(A). I retired from the Army in 1983, suffered a heart attack a few years later, and am now officially disabled. However I still retain an interest in old Army vevhicles, and would dearly love to own a White half track, which we used to use as a fitters vehicle, but the wife tells me to grow up!! The repairs I used to do in the Army were mainly tanks, Centurion, Chieftain and Conquerors. with the odd "dinky toy" thrown in. But since those days the memory cells have become more and more redundant, possibly aided by the copious amounts of alcoholic beverage drunk for anti-freeze purposes. Thank you for having me. Harry.