Adrian Barrell Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 This is a picture of what will (probably) be my last restoration, my Cromwell. I'll add it's interesting history later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 You are saying the restoration scene farewell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Not as such but after I finish the scout car, the Cromwell will be the last vehicle (probably!). As well as the part finished M3A1, I'm doing a cosmetic restoration on the Matchless and a full restoration on a 1943 Auster. The Cromwell will probably take several years due to having a young family and I don't need any more projects as hard as tanks. Maintaining the fleet is enough work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Bloody hell, enough to do indeed! Add a young family to it and indeed, that's the end of spare time as we know it Good thing it's so much fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david052 Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 So where did you find it, how long have you had it, do you have all the parts needed? Tell more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Was it one of the ones from Finland which came up last year? Do you have the turret? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Was it one of the ones from Finland which came up last year? Do you have the turret? Hint: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Adrian, even if it ends up half as nice as your Sherman I am looking forward to the end result. Keep up the good work! Hanno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodge Deep Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 looks like a peice of cake for you Adrian! Judging by your sterling work on your Sherman you could start with a wheelnut and rebuild something amazing... although the young family effect does tend dissolve any time for projects such as this... mine ensure i'm never "bored"!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) Hanno gets the biscuit! My Cromwell was built by English Electric as a IV in March 1944 and was given the census number T189557. It was issued to the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and delivered to Thetford where 22nd Armoured Brigade were preparing for the Normandy Invasion. Training included a road run to Boyton in Suffolk to set up the guns, a distance of 70 miles each way. There are photographs in The Kings Head pub in Woodbridge of Cromwells driving down the High Street. Just prior to the invasion, the tanks were transported to the grounds of Orwell Park School for wadeproofing and then parked up in Trimley. Loading on to LSTs took place at the flying boat ramp at Felixstowe and they eventually landed on D+1, 7th June 1944. My tank had been issued to a Capt. Philip Clapperton who was troop leader in 2 troop, A sqdn. The sqdn commander was Bob Crisp, a soldier who had served and been injured in the desert war and still had troubles with old wounds. When he needed recurring treatment, Capt. Clapperton moved up to sqdn HQ as a replacement. All the tanks were named, the troop tanks were usually names beginning with A in the RTR tradition, Ist batt, letter A, 2nd batt, letter B etc. My tank was named ANNOUS but I have not been able to find out what that signifies. I spoke to Lord Carver some years ago and he remembered Capt. Clapperton as being the Batt. QM officer and said, tongue in cheek, that the tank probably survived because Capt. Clapperton never let it be issued! The tank obviously survived the war, was rebuilt as a VII and renumbered 26ZR35 and was selected to be converted to a Charioteer. This was a program to equip redundent Cromwells with a 20 pdr Centurion gun to get a bit of extra firepower in case of a war with the Soviets. After conversion, the tank was again renumbered this time 03ZW56 and sold on the 16th of July 1958 to the Lebanon. The Lebanese used them for several years and even modified the turret traverse system using kits put together by Chris Wilkinson. This included Sherman parts to allow power traverse without the main engine running, the original hydraulic system using an engine driven pump. Ultimately, the Lebanese disposed of their Charioteers and I believe they ended up with the PLO. Mine was knocked out with a hollow charge weapon which penetrated to hull side and other damage included a broken elevation mounting and much schrapnel marking. Eventually, it came back to the UK for the Budge Collection and I bought it from the receivers in 1993. Full circle! Rather like the Sherman, I have spent the intervening years gathering all the parts I need and it is now a complete project with the exception of a few small parts. You may be wondering how I know all this or indeed be thinking 'here we go, another ''my vehicle landed on D Day'' delusion'. Well, the tank still had it's Charioteer and Cromwell plates in it and using the key cards at Bovington, I was able to confirm that it was indeed T189557. In itself, this meant very little as there was some 2000 Centaurs and cromwells built but whilst looking through the order of battle for 1RTR on D day, I noticed a familiar number! There was T189557 listed. I confirmed it was not a typo from other sources and the rest is research I have done since. As a footnote to this, many of the Cromwells on the key cards were sold to G King and Son of Norwich, scrap dealers who later became steel stockholders. We used to deal with them many years ago and flicking through an old catalogue, I noticed one of their reps was a Philip Clapperton. Kings are long gone now but I knew a current suppliers rep used to work for them. The next time he came in I asked him if he knew Philip and he said he did and confirmed he thought he served in the war as an Army officer. He offered to track him down as he thought he was now living with his daughter. After a short time, he spoke to Philips daughter only to find her father had passed away three weeks before...... I was unable to confirm if he was the same man though it seems entirely possible. Edited January 1, 2010 by Adrian Barrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Fantastic and important history Adrian. Will it be ready for Dorset 2010??! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Fantastic and important history Adrian. Will it be ready for Dorset 2010??! I wish! 2020 perhaps..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naruto Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Great historic story! Good luck with this project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 A fleet the size of yours is certainly going to take some maintenance once this beastie is done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 All the tanks were named, the troop tanks were usually names beginning with A in the RTR tradition, Ist batt, letter A, 2nd batt, letter B etc. My tank was named ANNOUS but I have not been able to find out what that signifies. RTR (and cavalry) regiments do not have battalions. The battalion is a quirk of the infantry. Infantry battalions sit on the same level as regiments in all other arms. An infantry regiment is, for want of a better description, an administrative brigade. It is not usual for an infantry regiment (brigade) to fight as a brigade. Infantry battalions (and others) have companies; RAC (and others) have squadrons; Artillery have batteries. These are all equivalent. Within a tank / armoured / recce regiment, vehicle names (where used) traditionally reflect the squadron. Thus as you say (in the paragraph I snipped before the one I quoted), your vehicle is ANNOUS, in A Squadron, which is exactly as it should be. As to its significance, my guess was it's a battle honour or similar, but Googling at first glance only links to a family name in the Middle East and the USA. Maybe 1 RTR had a famous member by this name, immortalised on the side of one of their tanks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) You are correct in saying that the RAC had regiments not battalions but they were calling what was in effect a battalion sized unit a regiment. This results in the Royal Tank Regiment being made up of numbered regiments. I understood all of 1 RTR tanks were eligible to be named something begining with A regardless of sqdn. In the same way 3 RTR tanks began with C and 9RTR began with I. It is true that only A sqdn of 1 RTR applied it thoroughly, there seems to be a degree of troop level naming in other sqdns. It could be the volume of wartime regiments led to some loosening of the 'rules'. Edited January 15, 2009 by Adrian Barrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 2 troops tanks were named as follows. ANNOUS APREZVOUS APACHE ACHTUNG I thought it might be Latin but also found nothing on the net. The other thing I came up with is a bit tenuous but.... As Capt Clapperton was the senior officer in the sqdn after the sqdn commander, Maj Crisp and moved up to HQ when needed, I compared the names of the HQ troop tanks to find a link. They were:- ANWENOIT ANWECANDOIT ANSODOWE Obviously a corruption of And we know it etc. and I wondered if my tank had been named as a follow on such as 'And us'. This would have course been abbreviated to ANUS so would have needed to be changed or at least modified a bit! I'd hate to think my tank was named arsehole....:red: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) After conversion, the tank was again renumbered this time 03ZW56 and sold on the 16th of July 1958 to the Lebanon. The Lebanese used them for several years and even modified the turret traverse system using kits put together by Chris Wilkinson. This included Sherman parts to allow power traverse without the main engine running, the original hydraulic system using an engine driven pump. Ultimately, the Lebanese disposed of their Charioteers and I believe they ended up with the PLO. Mine was knocked out with a hollow charge weapon which penetrated to hull side and other damage included a broken elevation mounting and much schrapnel marking. Adrian, thanks for the biscuit and hats off to your research! I do not have to tell you how rare it is to find so much of the history of a tank, but I would like to point out this fact to the rest of the forum members. I do have a question, however: was your tank sold directly to Lebanon, or was it sold to Jordan and then sold on to Lebanon? I´m asking because as far as I could find out, about 200 Cromwells were converted by Robinson and Kershaw Ltd in Cheshire. In practice the Charioteer was used by British Territorial Army units only and during mid and late 1950s most of the vehicles were sold to Austria, Finland and Jordan. Jordan equipped two squadrons (24 vehicles) of their 3rd Tank Regiment in 1954. Some of the Jordanian Charioteers were sold to Lebanon. Several of the Lebanese vehicles were picked up by the PLO when the Lebanese army disintegrated during the civil war. They were used by the PLO against Israeli forces in Southern Lebanon during Operation Litani (1978). From this I concluded Charioteers were sold to Jordan and then sold on to Lebanon, instead of being sold directly to Lebanon. Thanks, Hanno Edited January 15, 2009 by mcspool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Obviously a corruption of And we know it etc. and I wondered if my tank had been named as a follow on such as 'And us'. This would have course been abbreviated to ANUS so would have needed to be changed or at least modified a bit! I'd hate to think my tank was named arsehole....:red: Seeing they used at least one other French-inspired name, APREZVOUS, or "after you", could ANNOUS have come from "à nous"? This tentatively translates as "for us" or "to us". HTH, Hanno (P.S. that biscuit left a nasty taste after I read about anus. . . :ergh: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Hanno, I also thought they were sold to Jordan and from there passed to the Lebanon but on the key card for mine, one of the other vehicles is stated as going to 11GVD- MINISTRY OF DEFENCE. LEBANON. I took this to mean perhaps they were a recipient. Looking at it now, perhaps not! 11GVD is also listed ahead of T WARD-SHEFFIELD on a few of the others. Mine is listed as follows:- s/o g xxxx to allies MELF 30.9.57 The xxx are illegible, the writing is appalling! The date of 16 July 1958 I referred to in my earlier post could apply to the next vehicle on the card 03 ZW 57. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 11GVD- MINISTRY OF DEFENCE. LEBANON. Mine is listed as follows:- s/o g xxxx to allies MELF 30.9.57 Adrian, I wonder if 11GVD was located in the ME or Gulf area? At a guess it might be 11 Gulf Vehicle Depot .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Richard, could be, though other vehicles are listed as 41GVD-ROF BIRTLEY and 41GVD-MILITARY AIR ATTACHE EMB W1 ROF Birtley is no problem but the Air Attache Emb (embassy?) is more intruiging. I assume W1 is the London location but whose embassy and why the air attache? Looking at the key card closely, it could be avd which would make a lot more sense! It is a peculiar mix of upper and lower case. Just need to find out where those armoured vehicle depots were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmac Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) Great information Adrian, In line with a couple of other people I have spoken to over the years about Cromwell restoration (all were Charioteer converted) where are you going to find a turret in a hurry? I think I saw one in the long grass as the Cobberton (sp?) Combat Collection a few years ago as the guy said they currently had a wooden mockup on there Centaur and were planning to rebuild an original. Probably a silly question, I imagine your biggest problem is which of the three in your shed to use as the basis of the rebuild rather than where to find one! Edited January 15, 2009 by ajmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 I have two turrets complete with rings but both have 'problems'.... I will end up making a new inner skin and possibly one or two armour plates and fitting original bits to it. To explain further, the Cromwell turret is made from a 1/2" mild steel inner skin with a 20mm armour plate roof welded in. The armour panels are bolted on from the inside with 2" BSW bolts, the holes in the plates themselves being tapped. Special nuts are then screwed on bolt ends on the outside which are then welded to the armour. The bolt heads inside the tank are then welded fully to the inner skin although this was a mod for combat so is not always seen on surviving turrets which are usually from Centaurs. Obviously undoing the bolts is going to be impossible if only because corrosion between the inner skin and the armour has bulged the inner plates about 1/2" putting the bolts under incredible tension. My plan is to burn the head of the bolt away from the surrounding nickel weld. This should allow the plates to be released leaving a short stub to the bolt. My new inner skin will have 2" dia. holes in all the appropriate places and I can weld the stubs when the plates are in place. Then weld a 2 3/4" hexagon blank over the new weld to replicate the bolt head et voila! Not battle worthy but they won't fall off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Actually converting a Charioteer back to a Cromwell is quite involved as it needs new roof plates and a rear plate not to mention a lot of parts to remove and new ones to find. On the other hand, some parts are simple mods to the original. The turret basket springs to mind as even though the ring size is increased, the platform is the same, the support plates simply being bent to fit a larger diameter. Rather like my Sherman, when I started collecting parts for the Cromwell, few others were so I had access to quite a bit of stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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