Centurion Arrives in BC

[Ed Storey]

I have just taken out the recycle and had a rethink about this thread. This thread is about a Canadian Centurion which was shipped from Cornwallis NS to Aldergrove BC. The tank has been attributed to having seen service in Korea, a statement which has been challenged.

I don't think you intend to write a history of the Centurion tank in CF service but you are trying to determine if the tank in question, and now in Aldergrove, actually served in Korea. Adding to the mystery is that the tank does not have a known British MoD WD number and the attributed CFR is questionable.

You may never be able to find the correct CFR or WD number for the vehicle now in Aldergrove, but you may be able to prove that some Canadian used Centurions had actually seen service in Korea prior to being shipped to Canada. So why not take another approach and first determine which British Regiments employed Centurions in Korea and work from there? You may be able to find out how many tanks were used in Korea and what they had for assigned WD numbers. You can then take this list of WD numbers and check with Bovington to see if any of the tanks made their way into Canadian stocks. This would I think at least prove or disprove the theory of some Canadian Centurions tanks having seen previous use in Korea.

Some things you can do which may help you is catalogue what the casting number is on the turret and let us know which model of turret it is. You can also record the gun number and any other hull serial numbers as this information may help you later on.