Tank Chats
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ส.ค. 2021
- David Fletcher is back with another Tank Chat on one of the most successful post-war tank designs, Centurion. It was the primary British Army main battle tank of the post-World War II period.
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"... we made some progress, though very slowly of course. Being British!" Lovely stuff! You've just got to love the candidness of David.
If I was ever lucky enough to travel to Britain, I would love to shake his hand. Mr. Fletcher seriously has no chill. (can't spell)
sounds like he had the next TiGER DAYS in mind and did not want to discuss a comparison to a Tiger 1 or Tiger 2 if the british was a superior beast or just a tame tiger with a lot of mechanical issues.
Now it is just a prototype that never a Tiger.
Quintessential British!
Living treasure
Which pretty well sums up Gary Sheffield's "Learning curve" theory of First World War high command.
While I understand the need for advertising for the museum. If the amazing David Fletcher is speaking. He should not be interrupted. 😉😆
Yeah, just leave it at the beginning or the end
"and what do you do for the war effort?"
"I drive a special tank for the infantry to shoot at for practice"
Someone had to. Ideally an oily Herbert who fell asleep on watch.
I can't believe they had someone in there hahahaha
Yep we did me an a Lcpl m leaper from Bsqn 3RTR in 1977 .
@@kevindavis1916 I've met quite a few infantrymen and heard stories about others. You deserve an award for valour IMO.
It's when precisely instructed on what not to do for safety reasons that they're the most dangerous.
That "idiotic grey" part on the Centurion Target made me laugh so hard. Lol
Now we have a new classification for the grey color scheme.
_Grey_ .
Imagine being the dude driving the thing.
"Alright Johnson, you are going to drive this tank around that field, while these chaps get to fire anti-tank missiles at you. Sound good?"
"Not sure I like the sound of that sir."
"Not to worry, it's just training ammunition. You'll be just fine."
@JZ's BFF The 51st.
@JZ's BFF The 51st shade of gray.
@JZ's BFF I was just joking. Trying a “connex” to the movie 50 shades of gray. And the “idiotic gray” would be the 51st shade. That’s the whole “secret”.
Fabulous overview of one if the greatest tanks ever produced. One request - please don't put the merchandising ad in the middle of the video. Either at the start or at the end is fine, but putting mid way really disrupts the flow and detracts from an otherwise excellent production.
I think at this point Madame Tussauds should be commissioned to create a wax figure of Mr. Fletcher with his signature clothing (and pose as seen at 7:00) to greet visitors at the Entrance to the exhibition.
I concur
Spendid idea!
This man is a gentleman and a scholar. I had the privilege of meeting him in 2007 and his tour remains on of my fondest memories.
Somehow I always start smiling when I see David speaking about tanks. He's the best one for the job
Please do not interrupt the moustache with advertising and other distractions. This a most unwelcome change in production.
Yes agreed
Yeah, no one likes midroll ads, and most people watching already know about the gift shop, so just leave them at the beginning or end
Yes. It's tawdry, abrasive, an insult to Mr. Fletcher and the viewer. Every good thing doesn't HAVE to be degraded as a matter of course. Does it, Bovington Tank Museum?
Blame TH-cam, low or nonexistent ad revenue is why this is happening, especially military history related content has been hit pretty hard.
I unsubscribed because of it.
The Chap doing the merch advert and the Patreon pitch made me jump out of my skin 😅 but a beautiful tank with a respectable history, jolly good
Who is he?
@@cpconner93 Richard Smith, the director of the museum
I am fine with them asking for funding, but am not a fan of this specific format.
@@tamlandipper29 I agree. I didn't like this intrusive format
@@tamlandipper29 Once a video is ample enough. Also, prefer somebody doing it as well. I do like some of Richard Smith's presentations but here he sounds to much like a salesman.
Just thinking of the old Army saying , "he was in the when centurion was a rank , not a tank "
Ausculto centurio! SPQR
My boy David Fletcher with another epic tank chat about the best British tank ever?
awww hell yeah
*the best tank chatter
Low standards then? Very British! :)
The Centurion Mk 1 was pretty crap to be honest. Not much better than a Jerry Panther. It was only after years of development that it started to get good.
@@HO-bndk I bet you're a wow at parties
'It was about 1945 when they finished it'
- In fairness the Brits had some decent tanks rolling off the lines at around June '45.
If only those lazy Germans held out a bit longer.
People are often fascinated by the “wonderful” nazi weapons that would have been made if the war had lasted longer.
They forget about the allied weapons that was also under development and would have been around earlier if there had been a need.
@@Jakob_DK : As a german, Britta is my girlfriend, i am often surprised , that outside of Germany so many people are so impressed or fascinated by things of Hilter era.
@@brittakriep2938 because people outside Germany wasn't brainwashed by Allies propaganda for decades without stopping.
@@AKUJIVALDO : Not only allied Propaganda, also by our german gouvernement. As non german you perhaps not believe, what happens in my country for more than 30years. Up to mid 80s , i was born in 1965, it was a bit more normal.
Its amaizing that they started to design this thing in '43, and some of the Centurions were in the active service for so long!
The design work for the Vulcan Bomber kicked off (Air Ministry Spec issued) in 1946 (picture it in your head alongside 1946 aircraft!) ... major bits of kit have quite a long design/development lead-time.
@@alfnoakes392 So many of the prominent Cold War kit started their origins in the late '40s, early '50s. Insane to think about how most airforces still had bi-planes as front line units just at the tail end of the '30s.
That last bit about the target cent was really interesting
David, you're looking rather dapper the day, good to see you at your best in this video. Thank you.
I loved that tank, what a privilege it was to serve aboard 12 BA 70. 2B, 2RTR Hone B.F.P.O. 30. From Jan 7 1966 to Sometime in 1969. Sheer joy :)
Those swooshing sounds give me an heart attack every time. Love the new delivery of Fletherisms inspite of that :D
Many thanks, David, thoroughly enjoyable.
For reference, there is a Centurion on a mound adjacent to the A582 a few miles from me (I live in Bolton) the sign in front of it simply days 'Made in Leyland'. Many Centurions were, of course, made at Leyland Motors.
I drive past it very often.
Drive past it every day :)
I went round the roundabout three times when I first saw it; one of the few Leyland products that never dies.
@@AWMJoeyjoejoe 👍
@@saeran-neil522 👍
Best tank ever built. Still in service today.
@Son Bükücü South Africa.
David Fletcher really is a great bloke-friendly, helpful and knowledgeable-and completely approachable. A pleasure to see him whenever,on the many many visits
I made there with my (then) young son. Well worth a visit if you ever get the chance. Brilliant tank of course....
"We made some progress, but very slowly of course, being British."
LOL!
It's funny because it is at the same time both true and false. Because the same folks that could be almost self destructively hide-bound by tradition, were also the developers of radar, the Bletchley Park code breakers, the Gloster Meteor, etc.
British are rather complicated people
Funny you should mention that last one; every time I hear it mentioned that a tank has a "Meteor engine", I instinctively imagine a tank with a jet engine from the Gloster Meteor strapped to the back.
I think it's our national myth, that we're bloody awful at most things apart from making proper tea, and we do like to put ourselves down and be somewhat modest :-)
We're British, what do you expect, consistency? Not on your Nellie.
@@simonwaldock9689 Aunt Nellie?
'I've joined the army mum'
'Good lad, what do you do'?
'I'm a target for my own side to fire at'
'Oh, you are practicing working with our US allies. Cuppa tea'?
😂😂😂😂
Ha
I'm so happy that this channel is a thing. It is new tech meeting old in the best way
Finally my favourite British tank beside the Churchill VII.
Tog always wins
One of the most successful British MBT ever built.
It was successful because there were no adversaries.
All the tankers and mechanics i met hated it.
@@Agm1995gamer certainly the Syrian army hated it in the Golan in 1973
@@michaelsalt4565
That's because the syrians were egotistic and didn't use any kind of tactic.
Soldiers tried to be heroes and commanders wanted medals so they fated themselves to death.
@@Agm1995gamer bull manure, the Syrians were poorly trained and used Soviet style tactics, although the T62 was a good tank. The Israelis were were better trained, better tactics and had superior equipment in the form of the Sh'ot.
Low standards then? Very British! :)
Cold pint and a new David Fletcher video - best start into a weekend possible?
The prettiest Tank ever. Since I was a small boy this was the standard to me. The Jaguar e Type of tanks.
Not the ‘prettiest’ but definitely the ‘Tankiest’ tank built up to that time.
@@Ubique2927 my centurion bias runs deep. My farher was Armour corp and 1 of the 4 man crew who did the 1st demo when the Centurion arrived in South Africa. Also involved when we fitted the auto gearbox the start of the Olifant.
@@johanvanzyl8479 .. My father took one to Korea.
@@Ubique2927 Hi there, many years ago I was lucky enough to chat with a bloke who had driven a Centurion in Korea ... he told me about how the winter was so cold (and river ice so thick) that they had competitions to see who could skid a Centurion furthest across the ice : )
@@alfnoakes392 .. Regrettably my father never talked to us about his time there. Except that they would just keep on going and going.
Imagine having the job of _target tank driver_ . Psychologically challenging. Though I suppose being _harmlessly_ targeted by friendlies hundreds of times beats being targeted by an enemy once.
Been their, done that and got the T-shirt in UK and Germany
@@ebird2193 Don't stop there, EB. Do tell ..
One of my favourite tanks of all time and thanks to Mr Fletcher I just learned some more about the Centurion target tank didn't know about that one.
"We made some progress but very slowly of course, being british."
- David Fletcher
What a legend 😤
David Fletcher is a national treasure , untold knowledge and wisdom
International treasure, us Yanks are also quite fond of him.
Email notifications that your Fletcher books on Tigers and British armour will arrive soon, then you get a notification for a Fletcher vid on the centurion. August has been good to me!
LOVE the Centurion! Great British tank, introduced by a Great British Gent!
Model company AFV Club makes a whole line of 1/35 scale Centurions, currently numbering 13. I have most of them, and they all look great!
Must have missed this one when I was at the Tank museum, what a great bit of history!
Edit: I hope whoever was driving the target tank got extra pay!
Probably some poor sob that got busted
I was told that they did indeed get extra pay.
Or at least a free and substantial supply of underwear...
@@dengudomlige8644 I don't think that a supply of the green "shreddies" that the Army issued at the time would be great incentive !!!
Maybe they didnt have it yet when you were there Since its also a new video Or it was still beeing restored
Another Great update thanks David and All of the Team
Masterful overview of hugely brilliant tank.. my father was briefly involved in main gun trials in Scotland in the 50's . Scott Somerset
Brilliant as always. David Fletcher is the greatest thing at the tank museum.
When he dies, stuff him and put him on display as an exhibit.
@@Skorpychan Yes, and do a chat about his life and times.
@@Vargon7 They already did one of those, a few months back!
Good-looking tank. Glad it was buffed in recent updates. The Centurion 7/1, the Defender Mk.1, and the Caernarvon. All great tanks.
Best British Tank ever made
Low standards then? Very British! :)
@@genericpersonx333 Yeah, higher standards than Americans, French or Russians. Not hard, of course!
Wonderful story. Thank you for posting.
Thanks again Mr Fletcher always a pleasure.
Fascinating !!! 🇬🇧
To echo others, I don't mind the advertising and asking for donations, but this new format is extremely intrusive.
Imagine how nice this would have been against the JagPanthers & tigers.
Milan loved that anti tank system , i got to fire Two missiles in Jordan in 2005 before we went over to javelin
My favorite tank, I need one!!!
Do you think they have some good leasing options, and hybrid-options for tax credit?
Another brilliantly informative video from the legend. Give this man a knighthood
I don't even think it's a real gun on the Target Centurion, I think it's probably a piece of scaffolding.
Absolutely I dont see a 17pounder barrel that was mild steel pipe😝
Really? Break the news to David gently, old chap.
He said it LOOKS like a 17 pounder. Not that it was one
It's a real barrel, welded straight onto the mantlet, nothing behind the mantlet at all
The turret is empty behind the mantlet.
Drove one of these in UK and Germany
@@ebird2193 ooh! What was it like?
Mr. Fletcher is a national treasure.
First tank I ever saw in '78, fell in love with tanks ever since and 17 years later I was sitting behind "my" EMES.
Nice to see David back. Slow progress was better than no progress but we got there in the end.
I didn't know there was a Centurion built with an independent autocannon - it gives the tank's turret quite the unique look!
That autocannon, btw, is the 20mm Polsten cannon, a Polish redesign of the Swiss Oerlikon weapon.
PLEASE, PLEASE more videos from Richard Smith OBE!
Thank you , Mr Fletcher .
Great video! Not sure about those new adverts though.....
And all the Milan operators trained on the Centurion target tank had a hit rate 200% higher when shooting at tanks moving right to left.... :-)
I'm not sure that's true tbh, but I'd be interested to read any sources you have on that. The missile could easily be steered in either direction.
@@JohnyG29 I'm sure he is just joking about their practice targets only moving in one direction.
Probably a 200% underwear usage increase for the drivers as well
@@JohnyG29 see smiley ;-)
Lessens the "Whoosh" rate
And woe betide any Warsaw Pact tank crew who decided to reverse from left to right.
Presumably the spotting rifles on BAT/CONBAT/WOMBAT recoilless weapons could be used for for range training on this too?
I have the centurion mk5 avre, centurion mk5/1 and centurion Action X in War Thunder and i absolutely love them all haha. Thanks for the video!
Just making a comment to feed the TH-cam algorithm. I also visited the Tank Museum Shop, and saw that you have a great range of products. The Tiger Tank slippers will be perfect to wear while listening to Mud's "Tiger Feet"!
Thanks for sharing!
AFAIK the Royal Engineers were the last British capbadge to operate the Cent gun tanks. In the mid 80’s 32 Armd Engr Regt were given some Cents with L7 to escort our bridgelayers. I think they were withdrawn by GW1 though of course we still had the Cent AVRE…
Love the new ad at the beginning for your channel
I remember when as a REME fitter with 2nd Coldstream's in the 80's watching live firing, near Oldenburgh on the Baltic coast, of paint/dye filled Milan rockets at an old 'Centurion' and thinking I would not want to be one of the two tank crew.... Happy days.. with lots of naughty stuff... But that's another story.
Gosh Bovington tank museum is on my bucket list it is so cool I want to see real life tanks!
Possibly the best post war tank of the 20th century
"...it looks like a 17-pounder..." If you say so, David. It looks like a scaffolding pole to me.
I think it looks closer to the 20 pounder, honestly.
@@MrDgwphotos If you are referring to the "Target tank", then the barrel was welded straight onto the mantlet, there was nothing behind the manlet at all.
Sir David. Love that guy.
Thanks again!
Thank you tank museum
Great video as always but the last few minutes of this about the target drones was really interesting, new info for me!!
Fascinating!!!
A+ with the sales pitch.
What you did there works.
Very interesting video thank you for sharing. What a terrifying job driving the target tank must have been. It can’t have done your ears or nerves any good.
Imagine several hundred of these tanks being ready for D-Day.
Fascinating stuff !
I bloody love Richard Smith's advert int he middle. Comedy gold.
Great to see a prototype still around!
Classic design. Wonderful tank.
I have waited so long!
I always thought the Centurion was the tank that's started to get that MBT look to it.
Then came the Chieftain which REALLY started to get that MBT look.
I think you mistaken Panther and King Tiger with those puny British tanks...
@@AKUJIVALDO Now that's bait if I ever saw it.
@@dovadwarf7458 bait? Of course, stating the truth is bait? LOL
@@AKUJIVALDO No, the fact that all you want to do is argue and no matter how much evidence would be put against yours's you wouldn't change your mind. I have argued with Wehraboos before and I would rather try to bring down the Great Wall with my forehead than do it again, less mental pain as well.
@@dovadwarf7458 apparently you suck at presenting your facts...or talk crap just like in this comment tread. Which ever is correct, I don't know.
You can try changing Earth's orbital path by jumping up and down if your Great Wall head-smashing does not work LOL
That prototype is excellent!
My favourite tank, there’s one in Leyland near a roundabout, my son loves to visit it and climb on it
Finally, an actual TANK chat after quite a while...
Its a Centurion, so worth the wait : )
My man looking sharp these days! Keep doing what you're doing Davie!
David's lost his magnificent belly ! What's going on with this world !! heh. Cheers for the upload.
I thought he was looking quite trim.
thank you
Driving the target tank must have been fun. "right just roll across this field here while our boys sling some inert munitions your way, nothing to worry about"
We hardly ever put a live round in by mistake, so stiff upper lip.
Brilliant man ❤️👀👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Just who ARE the 65 non-believers in the almighty David. His knowledge is voluminous and his delivery intimate and infectious. Great stuff.
Im doing my next car in Idiotic Grey!
Recognize the Centurion because as a kid spent many hours playing with my Dinky Toys Centurion and the Antar Tank Transporter. Some years on, saw them in use by the Cdn Army.
In 1978, in the Netherlands, they were in reserve...seen these in operation in the weekend...used by reservists...at that time the Leopard 1 was in use...
Interesting Vid, I enjoyed it :-) Couple of points, we never used the pistol port to load ammo, with a 105 round we would more likely have damaged the round than anything else, and seeing a Cent without side plates was a rarity certainly in Germany in the very late '60's. It was a much nicer tank as far as crew comfort went than a Chieftain though that's for sure.
I would assume the port worked better with 76mm 17pr ammunition than 105mm ammunition.
And yeah I was in one and the turret can compftably hold 4 people when it is stationary.
Sure you are right, I never had anything to do with 17pr rounds, just 105 on the Cent and 120 on the Chief oh and those damn vent tubes of course :-)
Had a crawl through one of these at Puckapunyal before the Armoured Regiment moved up north. It was a pretty hot day and I can’t imagine how hot it must have been in there when they were in action in South Vietnam.
The Cent target tank with ''BA'' registration would make it a later mark of conversion. the early Cents were ''ZR'' registered afaik.
A beautiful tank.
Greatest tank ever made.
I wonder how British tank design would've differed if Brunel had got his way and Britain had run wide gauge railway lines throughout.
The target tank was the interesting one
That tank looks bloody enormous. Almost Maus like proportions.