Date: October 2005
One from the archives – an Australian M3 Medium S/N 25154. More recent images to follow.
This is a straight gun tank, no 75mm counterweight, no anti magnetic screens. Northern Australia-style camouflage. Also of note is the “Lee” type turret with cupola removed instead of Grant pattern turret. Continue reading
Date: October 2005
One from the archives – an Australian M3 Medium S/N 27101 “Ancient”. More recent images to follow.
This is a straight gun tank, no 75mm counterweight, no anti magnetic screens. Also, note the British-designed “Grant” pattern turret. Continue reading
Date: March 2006
In January 1940, approval was given to commence manufacture in Australia of the British Ordnance QF 25pdr field artillery piece. The first example rolled off the assembly lines in May 1941, a remarkable achievement given the state of the Australian manufacturing base before the war.
As the focus of Australia’s war effort moved from the Mediterranean to the jungles of New Guinea and South East Asia from 1941, the shortcomings of this otherwise excellent weapon in terms of ability to operate away from developed road networks and motor transport accessible terrain were exposed.
Australian industry again responded and developed a lighter, more readily transportable version of the 25pdr which was able to be broken down quickly into air-, jeep- or man- transportable components. This involved modifications to barrel, recoil / recuperator and mount.
Further info and contemporary pics can be found in the Wikipedia entry. Continue reading
Date: February 2011
This is a more detailed set of images of the “bare” early Centurion turret at Puckapunyal to complement our earlier series of pics.
Added due to popular demand (well, one person on Missing Links anyway!). This one’s for you Karl!
Date: May 2006
This nicely preserved example was manufactured in 1941 in South Australia.
Date: March 2006
Alas this museum is no more, with the exhibits to be relocated to a new facility at Puckapunyal Victoria (eventually).
But in the meantime, we’ve got some useful pics to share. Continue reading
Date: March 2006
Alas this museum is no more, with the exhibits to be relocated to a new facility at Puckapunyal Victoria (eventually).
But in the meantime, we’ve got some useful pics to share.
This particular gun is an Australian-made example produced during World War II. Continue reading
Date: March 2006
Alas this museum is no more, with the exhibits to be relocated to a new facility at Puckapunyal Victoria (eventually).
But in the meantime, we’ve got some useful pics to share.
This particular gun is an Australian-made example produced during World War II. Continue reading
Date: March 2006
Alas this museum is no more, with the exhibits to be relocated to a new facility at Puckapunyal Victoria (eventually).
But in the meantime, we’ve got some useful pics to share.
This particular set is of interest as the gun was displayed without the gunshield, affording unobstructed views of the gun mount.
This is an Australian-made example produced during World War II.
Date: April 2006
This series of images was taken in April 2006 at the RAAC Memorial & Army Tank Museum, Puckapunyal Vic. Continue reading