Centaur Mark IV data plate on eBay

[David Herbert]

I see that the seller has withdrawn this plate from its Ebay sale.

Richard, what detail are you refering to? I have owned two Centaurs and have plates from two others in front of me now. The only inconcistancy that I see is that it was normal to stamp the date "January 1944" not "1 - 1944" but I can not say that it was never done that way. Most Centaur plates were cast brass, others like the one offered for sale were etched brass and therefore rather thinner but with exactly the same wording except for the "L.E.C.43" in the bottom RH corner (the plate maker?). Size was exactly the same.

The etched one that I have is from a Centaur dozer T185439. This actually carried three plates: the original tank (cast) one dated April 1944, the etched one identical to the one in the advert but dated November 1944, and then an etched one refering to "Centaur Bulldozer" and dated March 1945. They all have the same "T" no. and were removed by me from a wreck so I know that they are right. All four of the plates in front of me are stamped in the same font as the one for sale except one which is engraved in a smaller less ornate font.

Presumably there is some record of the fate of SEAWOLF but since there is such a need for people to pinch maker's plates from any big impressive machine it is not impossible that this plate has surfaced ?

David