Leopard 1 Driver Training Cabs in Canada

[45jim]

I was in D&M squadron in Gagetown in 1985 prior to posting to Calgary. We had four driver trainers with cabs. There were no spare driver cabs about and we were told that there were no driver cabs in Europe. We also had the driver position cut-aways for training drivers with warning light immediate actions.

Gunnery squadron had the four turrets (from those tanks) mounted on stands on the indoor miniature range. The CFR was painted on the hulls and turrets of those tanks. Supposedly, when a tank was to go for a rebuild it had to take its turret with it.

The modifications for the driver cab installation were accelerator linkage, steering linkage, transmission shift linkage, brake linkage and lighting interface. The tank could be driven from the driver instructors position and he had mechanical advantage over the driver so he could take over