Adrian Barrell

They are drinking water cans for Centaur and Cromwell tanks. The early style has a screw cap and is made in three parts with edge joints, sometimes in brass. Later models were fitted with a flip cap like an American water can and were made in two halves with a centre seam like a British/ German jerrycan. The gun tanks had three in the turret, the Centaur Dozer had a single one on the hull side. They seem to come with the cross and without. They are often seen fitted externally to Cromwells in service, either on the rear or on a trackguard, presumably to free up some space inside.

Be aware of the possibility of small woodland creatures living up the sleeves though.....

I would have thought any fleece of Jacks would be big enough for the four of you......!

Many congratulations to you both! I could have sworn she was going to be a boy... just shows how much I know! I thought I saw a stork with stars and bars yesterday afternoon!

Joris, it's the same here but I thought I would let someone else make the assumption! I think a fuel sponsor would be more likely as they have a large retail customer base whereas a transport company, particularly one who does heavy haulage, may not see a benefit in sponsoring tanks. Maybe getting a fuel company to supply the fuel for the transport is the way to go. Jack, I would think you should be able to attract 15 to 20 tanks with a similar number of wheeled AFVs. If there is no historical theme to the event then you could probably double that with more modern armour. It would all depend on costs.

Jack, you would be surprised how much armour there is in the UK, how many owners would be interested in bringing it out to an event is another issue! I would certainly be up for it and can think of several others who would be too. The main problem would be, as always, cost. For instance, to attend and partake in such an event in the midlands would cost me in the region of £1500 to £2000, the vast majority of it on transport. That's a huge sum for a weekend playing. Fuel sponsorship for the tanks is a possibility but is actually a small part of the overall cost. With the right venue and mix of on/off road running, an event of this sort would be brilliant. Go for it!

Is there such a thing? The US Howitzer was a 155mm surely and the Cent 165mm is not really a howitzer as it's more of a demolition gun and was not used in a field mount. The US 155mm does exist in private hands, Bob Fleming brought a small number back from Bosnia. I did toy with the idea of getting one to tow behind my M5 HST but decided it would just be the worlds most useless trailer! Lovely thing though....

All 6v Dodges had the battery under the bonnet. The 12v Generator is so big, they had to have the battery elsewhere. Command Cars had it in a battery box on the side and late Weapons Carriers had it in one of the front boxes.

There's no denying that ww2 armour has gone mad with Shermans seemingly being what everybody wants. Demand currently outstrips supply so prices are bound to be high. I got mine in 1991 and there were several more to be had for £1000 each. They were admitedly in poor condition but nobody was queuing up to buy them. Mine was also a typical target and is now fully restored inside and out. It just took me about 4000 hours hard work to get it like that!

That picture was taken at Beltring 2007 and was a bit of a joke by the owner. Just shows you how rumours start!

They are tank spotlights. Used on Sherman amongst others, the light unit plugs onto a spigot in the turret roof with a mechanism inside the turret to move it around. It is also possible to fit them to a pistol grip with a retracting wander lead to be used as a hand held lamp.

C600 is definately not the same as EP140. It has a similar viscosity but the additives in EP oils are not for use with yellow metals and C600 is. In many cases, there is no problem but it would pay to check your gearbox/steering box first. The nearest equivelant I found was Shell Valvata but any non EP gear oil should be fine.

Well for one thing, it wasn't a Multibank Sherman, it wasn't sold at the show and it was nowhere near £300k. Actually that's three things.... Don't believe everything you hear!

It's Centurion, a quick comparison with the Conqueror picture shows it's different.

The design GVW of a WC51 is under 3500 kg as it has an unladen weight of just over 2000kg and is designed with a payload of 750kg (more or less). The maximum authorised mass is not necessarily the same in all cases as that refers to the vehicles plated weight, not applicable in the case of a WC51. You can drive it on your licence but it does need an MOT test.

That settles it, definately Covenantor/Crusader with Crusader hubs. I would definately like them but NE Scotland is a bloody long way......

Tony, yes that's the one. Luke, yes, owned by Cadmans. Very early M4A1

Thought it might be that one! I do know a bit about it. Came from Pounds as a BARV many years ago, 'converted' back to a gun tank using a 76mm turret and gun and ended up at a Museum in Jersey. Moved to a different museum in Guernsey until brought back to the mainland in 2001. Restored with the correct turret and gradually fitted out with an interior. Recently sold and repainted by the new owners. Being enjoyed by them and the public alike ever since!

Luke, link doesn't work.

The nearest in flying would be the moving map GPS. Very good and nice to use but not sanctioned as a primary means of navigation. The military often conduct jamming trials and it renders it unreliable!

Covenanter generally did not have the three holes in the hub, hence why I think Crusader but it is the same wheel in either case. They look a little wide for that though. As you say, a measurement will clear it up.

In flying, ground speed is not normally much of an issue except when calculating descent paths. Airspeed is always used. Indicated airspeed is just that and needs to be corrected for position error to obtain calibrated airspeed and then the altitude or more correctly pressure level factored in to find true airspeed which is nearly always higher than indicated.

It will depend on the width of the tyre. They are likely to be either Crusader (4 1/2") or Centaur/Cromwell (5"). The hubs are also tank and looking at the view on the rim they look like the 5". I have a home for those if they can be saved.

Knots to mph is easy, just add 15%. For those who don't know, a knot is one nautical mile per hour. So there is no such thing as knots per hour as is sometimes written. A nautical mile being the length of one minute of longditude at the equator if I remember correctly.

No, it was a PB4Y1 as it was a Navy project. Parts of it are in the 390th Museum at Parham.