Cromwell wreck in Czech republic

[Alex van de Wetering]

Hi Guys,

About a week ago I was in the Czech republic for a scale modeling show and while we were there we also visited two military museums.

In the Kraliky museum we found the chassis of a Cromwell between all the post-war russian and czech vehicles. Sadly we were not able to have a good look at the vehicle, because it was off limits to public. I did manage to take some "illegal" pics.

The Cromwell seems to have been converted at some stage. Has anyone got an idea what this Cromwell was used for? It has a plate welded over the turret ring with a hole in the middle. One other strange feature is the cut-out in the rear panel, with some tube or exhaust sticking out. Any ideas? AA-tank? mobile searchlight?

regards,

Alex van de Wetering

p.s. maybe the number on the hull front gives something away?