Tag Archives: tanks

Centurion Layout

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Check out this great Cold War circa 1965 “layout” image of a Centurion Mk 5 main battle tank. While the whole thing seems very British, the picture is actually of a track from Bravo Squadron, 101 Tankbataljon (101 Tkbat), of the Dutch Army’s Regiment Huzaren Prins Alexander (RHPA).

NIMH AKL052561

A closer image gives a better view of the crew and the tank’s interesting camo pattern. NIMH AKL052558

All smiles, NIMH AKL052559

The crew in front of the tank all carry a 9mm Browning Hi-Power pistol as a personal weapon and two 9 mm UZI SMGs as an additional weapon for the gunner and the loader. Also, note the Class A-style uniforms on their packs and the vehicle gear to the right.

The Royal Netherlands Army’s tank history is a curious one.

Prior to World War II, the Dutch possessed but a single tank, a second-hand French Renault FT that was acquired in 1927. While this was augmented by five Carden Loyd Mk.VI tankettes in the 1930s and a fleet of about three dozen assorted armored cars including the excellent domestically-made (with Swedish help) M39 Pantserwagen, European Holland was not very well equipped when it came to armored vehicles when the Germans crashed over the border in May 1940. The Royal East Indies Army (KNIL) in what is today Indonesia, had more going for it but that is beyond the scope of what we are talking about.

The “Free Dutch” Prinses Irene Brigade, formed in England during the German occupation in WWII, was ostensibly motorized but was only about a battalion-sized unit that, in the end, would ride into Northwest Europe in late 1944 on Bren and Loyd Carriers while their reconnaissance unit was equipped with Daimler and White Scout cars.

Post-war, with a fight on their hands against Indonesian insurgents and the threat of thousands of Soviet T-34s set to turn Europe red, the Dutch received almost 300 surplus M4A1, M4A2, M4A3, and M4A4 Shermans as well as some former British and Canadian Firefly tanks, which they operated into the late 1950s when they were replaced by new Centurions.

When it came to Centurions, the Dutch bought an impressive 592 Mk 3 models with British radios and thin 20pdr OQF Mk.I (84 mm) main guns between 1953 and 1960, using American MDAA funds as production of the M48 Patton wasn’t sufficient to cover the demand. Plus, the Centurions allowed the Dutch to work hand-in-hand with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and the Canadian Brigade in West Germany should the Fulda Gap become a contested space.

About 340 of these tanks were later upgraded with American radios and 105 mm L7A1 guns to become Mk 5 NL and Mk 5/2 standard by the early 1970s while the unmodded Centurions went into the reserve. The Dutch replaced them with West German-made Leopards and the Centurions, technically still owned by the U.S., were then (apparently) transferred to Israel.

The Dutch picked up 468 Leopard 1s in the 1960s and later 445 Leopard 2A4s (NL version which was all German but used Dutch radios, antenna bases, FN MAG machine guns, and smoke mortars) in the 1980s, then upgraded the latter to 2A5 and 2A6 standard.

With the end of the Cold War, the older Leos were scrapped (or converted to ARVs, BARVs, and bridge layers) and the newer Leo 2s hit the sales blocks for an average of $2 million a pop– a comparative bargain in the MBT world as the Dutch panzers were meticulously maintained and little-used. They sold them to Austria (115 2A4s in 1993), Norway (52 2A4s in 2001), Canada (100 2A4s/2A6Ms in 2007), Portugal (37 2A6 in 2007), and Finland (124 2A6s in 2011), leaving just a handful left in Holland. With no tanks left to drive, the disbandment of the 1st and 2nd Hussars (Regiment Huzaren 1st Van Sytzama, 2nd Prins van Oranje) occurred in 2012.

Even though no tank units “officially” exist in the Royal Army, the Dutch have just 18 Leopard 2A6M A2s active for service as part of a joint German/Dutch unit (the German 414th Panzer Battalion) and another handful of older Leo Is for spares, gate guards and museum displays beside the auxiliary hulls used as ARVs, etc. The Dutch make up the 4th Panzer Kompanie (4 PzKp) of the battalion and are barracked at Bergen-Loheide, though the battalion is under the overall command of the Dutch 43rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade.

Still, at least it is better than just having one.

Supertechincals. Paging your supertechnicals

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The improvised gun-truck, where you bolt on a crew served machine gun or light artillery piece and run around taking shots at stuff, has been around since the Great War at least. In more recent times, this blend of civilian or commercial truck and a heavy weapon has been called “the technical” since the Toyota Wars of Libya in the 1980s.

The Armor Journal Magazine has this great sample of some Mad Max tank action from (where else?) Syria/Western Iraq:


The Syrian civil war gave birth to a wide array of makeshift vehicles, often cobbled together by the many factions fighting there, using whatever is at hand. Here we have something really special, a T55 turret mounted on an improvised pedestal on the back of a 8 wheeled civilian truck and another turret mounted on a trailer, both obviously used as artillery pieces. (~ Marcus, The Armor Journal)

The below video, from June 2016, which may or may not be the same vehicle shows the turret of a T-55 tank (Chinese Type 67?) used as Mobile Artillery by Iraqi Badr Forces near Jabal Makhoul (Salah Ad-Din province).

One Tough Dane

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CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan – Some days it is better to be lucky than good.
CPL Meridith Brown

Maj. Gen. John A. Toolan, commanding general of Regional Command Southwest, visits with Sgt. Jacob P., a Danish tank commander with Jutland Dragoon Regiment, at the Role 3 Hospital aboard Camp Bastion, Feb. 1. Jacob, a native of Holstebro, Denmark, sustained a gunshot wound to his right shoulder while providing overwatch during Operation Shamali Kamarband, Jan. 5. Then, Jan. 31 he was wounded by three gunshot wounds, one to his right shoulder and two in his left leg. On both occasions, Jacob remained calm under fire and instructed his crew to fire on the insurgents' position, killing them.

For Sgt. Jacob P., a Danish tank commander with Jutland Dragoon Regiment, luck was definitely on his side on two separate occasions in January.

On Jan. 5, Jacob was manning the turret in his Leopard 2 tank while providing overwatch during Operation Shamali Kamarband when he came under enemy fire. Jacob was shot in his right shoulder and fell down inside his tank. He immediately came back up after looking through his optics and located the enemy, engaged him and killed him by returning fire with his machine gun.

Following the firefight, the Holstebro, Denmark native had to be medically evacuated to Bastion Role 3 Hospital, adjacent to Camp Leatherneck, for treatment.
During his stay, Maj. Gen. John A. Toolan, commanding general Regional Command (Southwest), was making his routine visits through the hospital when he came across the soldier. He came back to his office and told Sgt. Maj. Michael F. Jones, sergeant major RC (SW), he needed to go visit him. During his visit, Jacob clearly recalled his story to Jones.

Then on Jan. 22 during a battle circulation tour, Toolan and Jones visited a Danish task force, operating out of Forward Operating Base Price, to say farewell, congratulate them on their many achievements and the accomplishments in Helmand and Nimroz provinces.
“At that time, the commander pointed out Jacob to the [commanding general] and we had him come up and do a photo session,” said Jones. The (commanding general) got inside the tank and Jacob showed him several technical aspects of the tank.”

It was just 10 days later that Toolan and Jones once again found themselves in the Bastion Role 3 Hospital visiting Jacob.
While talking with Toolan, Jacob recalled the events surrounding his second medical evacuation in a month.
Jacob and his crew were out on a patrol showing the incoming officer-in-charge the lay of the land.

They were South of Route 611, the main road between Sangin and Kajaki districts, when Jacob noticed something was wrong with one of the tracks on his tank. He stopped the convoy and got out to inspect the track. He noticed that a portion of the track was offset, so he got a hammer and started hitting the track to put it back into place, making the tank more mobile so they could continue their mission.
It was then Jacob had a feeling that someone was watching him. He looked back over his shoulder and saw somebody approximately 500 meters away. The man proceeded to fire a rocket-propelled grenade at the tank. The RPG fell short as Jacob dived for protection as far from the tank as possible. He came up unscathed and began inspecting the tank for damage.

After inspecting the tank and deeming it okay, he made an attempt to return to the tank when he was shot in the right shoulder by a sniper. He immediately began yelling to his crew with instructions on the location of the enemy so that they could engage the insurgent.
With sniper fire hitting the ground all around him Jacob made another attempt to return to his tank. It was then he was shot in his left thigh. Once again he was forced to seek cover.
When he thought he could make it to the tank, he tried again. As he was crawling into the tank another round from the sniper shot him in his left leg.
Despite the fact that he had just been shot three times, Jacob instructed his crew from inside the tank on the location of the insurgent. They fired a 120mm round that fell short. However, the second round was a direct hit in the insurgent’s abdomen.

Jacob contributes his success and health to his crew of 12 years.
As they headed back to the nearest patrol base, the gunner and loader began to render medical care to Jacob. They cut off his clothes, assessed the wounds and began to bandage them.
The loader plugged the wound in his shoulder with his finger to stop the bleeding.

After the convoy arrived at PB Clifton, Jacob was waiting for the medical evacuation, when the Taliban released the name of the sniper they had lost.
A British commander came up to Jacob and thanked him for killing the sniper. The sniper had killed five of his men.
“I’m so happy I took the guy out, it really meant a lot to me,” said Jacob.
“It meant a lot to you last time too,” Toolan chuckled in response. “You’re not only going to go down in Danish lore, but you’re going to go down in USMC lore.”
“He was humble,” recalled Jones. “Like we read about when people have done great deeds on the battlefield. Even to the point of almost ducking his head and lowering his eyes to say ‘I did what anyone else would have done in those circumstances.’”
“I thought that was so profound for me to see this man had been injured twice, on two separate occasions on the battlefield, pretty extensively, conducted himself the way he did, it was pretty humbling,” said Jones.