As an American I really enjoyed this. Not suprisingly we hear a lot about our own WW2 equipment but not much about everyone elses (with the obvious exception of the German gear) unless you really go digging for it. And I really love Jim Holland's enthusiasm!

@samholdsworth420

2 жыл бұрын

You act as if the channels tank museum and"the chieftan" don't exist

@samholdsworth420

2 жыл бұрын

😝

@wayneantoniazzi2706

2 жыл бұрын

@@samholdsworth420 I know very well they exist and enjoy them both. But I stand by my original statement. In addition, the Tank Museum staff (who I admire) can tell you everything you need to know about a particular tank, but they almost never go inside the one they're talking about. The Chieftain (who I REALLY admire) tells us the story AND goes inside, but he hasn't been in all of them that are out there. In this video Jim Holland did both and with a Cromwell!

@fazechunky4049

2 жыл бұрын

same!

@vincentlefebvre9255

2 жыл бұрын

Look at what U.K. and Canada produced during ww2.

As an apprentice in 1978-82 I worked with an old guy who, as an apprentice himself, used to drill and tap the thread on those turret plates. He remembered how the plates were JUST about soft enough to work on, but the hardness of the plates broke a lot of taps when cutting the threads. The plates with the broken taps stuck in them, were then thrown into the scrap for re-melting, to make new plates. He remembered being very annoyed if a tap broke in the last hole of a plate as all his work was for nothing after that.

My Dad was a Sgt in the RSG from 1945 till the early 60s. He trained on the Cruiser tanks before the regiment were re-rolled with the Centurion. Before leaving the Army he was permanent staff at the Glasgow yeomanry equipped with Cromwell's. Their depot had no maintenance facility, and on a Saturday afternoon one of the tanks had an electrical fault (lights) so he/they drove it across Glasgow to the maintenance depot. This was Glasgow and Saturday afternoon on match day, so they reached a main junction in the city centre controlled by a huge uniform Policeman (Poliss) who stopped the traffic (and the tank) My old man was driving, and was horrified to see the Poliss walking across to the tank, as he got closer he put both hands on the glacis plate, leant down to the drivers hatch and said (in finest Glaswegian) with a small grin " Are ye going to the match"....................

There’s something about the blocky shape and style of these Cromwell (and churchhills) that I just love. Amazing tanks!

@StuSaville

2 жыл бұрын

LEGO tank

@MrSquark

2 жыл бұрын

That dalek turret 😆

@normanberg9940

2 жыл бұрын

Meh, just more tiger bait.

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

Cromwell and it's half-brother Comet got a bit more love in the last few years (Ie the Chieftain did a two parter on Comet). The tanks problem is that the Shermaholics and Nazifans concentrate on the (rather rare, even rarer in the west) "Big Cats". The majority of Nazi tanks where Panzer IIi and IV. And Cromwell could reliably turn those into a nice crematorium for five Nazis while running circles around them. Comet could skin the kitties. And could do so after a 200km road march at high speeds if needed. But by the time it came into service - few big cats where still alive. Most died around km 100 of the road march... And before Cromwell or Comet got another chance - there was CENTURION

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

@@thecurlew7403 The gun was good but the Firefly had tons of problems. They where a stopgap measure that worked. But if they had been great - the UK would not have build Comet and the 77mm. Because: Why build a new tank in the limited GB capacities (remember that Centurion was already in the making) when you could simply stuff the 17pf in the mass produced Sherman?

My Father-in-law (Les Dinning) fought in one of these, he was a Desert Rat. In his later years he foundered the Desert Rats Memorial at the site where they were equipped and trained on their new tanks in Norfolk. The centrepiece of the memorial is an actual Cromwell tank. It's located on the A1065 a mile north of Mundford. As well as the tank there are information boards around the wooded site explaining what went on there. The tank is viewable on Google streetview. Les was interviewed by Al Murray in Al's Road To Berlin TV series.

@TheTwoFingeredBulldog

2 жыл бұрын

My uncle was in the desert rats, sadly he died 3 days after the Germans left by a trap, he's buried in Tunisia.

@Surv1ve_Thrive

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Niall. Interesting and good result for historical posterity. RIP your father in law.

@grahamwheeler6967

2 жыл бұрын

which regiment was he in mate?

@niallguiver2861

2 жыл бұрын

@@grahamwheeler6967 3rd then 4th County of London Yeomanry. Part of 7th Armoured Division.

@ohyeahgamer3736

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheTwoFingeredBulldog Thank you for his service.

regarding what Mr Holland said towards the end and jumping canals, I believe he's referring to an excerpt from Bill Bellamy's book "Troop Leader"; "We crossed a small bridge over a drainage dyke, fanned out again, broke through a hedge almost in line and found ourselves in the middle of the German positions. They must have heard our approach, but rather late, as of the group of four 88mm guns which were in the centre of the adjacent field, two were still in an Anti-Aircraft attitude, pointing to the sky, but the other two had traversed on to us, Instinctively we all fired our 75mm guns and machine guns. I fired the smoke canisters on the side of the turret and ordered everyone back through the hedge at maximum speed. The odds were too great, there were Germans everywhere, and as we shot through the hedge we were accompanied by 88mm shells, small arms and, I imagine, anything else that they could find to throw at us. This rousing reception lent us wings and we flew across the next field, realising too late that the drainage dyke was blocking our path and the only bridge was not for some 300 yards to our left, but also in the adjacent field, There was nothing for it but to act like steeple-chasers and jump it. I had done this sort of thing at Bovington when I was involved in a series of tank trials in early 1942, but the idea of doing it in the heat of the moment had not entered into my head. The only thing that I did remember was to shout, 'Dip your clutch,' to Chamberlain, who probably knew anyway. Luckily the dyke on our side had a slight ramp up to the edge and we hit this at a good 20mph. Our tank rose in the air and landed on the other bank with a great crunch. Things flew about in the turret, Smith was badly bruised as the remaining shells, which he still had on his knee, hit him in the face and shoulder, and we were all shaken" The excerpt then goes on to describe the remaining Cromwell's in the troop following Bellamy's example and making the jump, though only just, the last tank having the crews bedding end up in the water but still just managing to claw there way up the adjacent bank, also upon later inspection, the tanks had cleared some 20 feet in the jump across the dyke....one of my all time favourite books and thoroughly recommend everyone give it a read! "Troop Leader - a tank commander's story - by Bill Bellamy"

@duncanhamilton5841

2 жыл бұрын

You omitted just how Bellamy's tank made the jump - they later discovered they had been issued with a mild steel training tank!!!

@duedman-alleswasknallt5775

2 жыл бұрын

@@duncanhamilton5841 Yeah I also remember that part. And how they afterwards refused to receive a another one with actual armor because they knew it would only slow them down.

@sirridesalot6652

Жыл бұрын

@@duncanhamilton5841 So were all the other tanks that made the same jump, also made of mild steel?

@duncanhamilton5841

Жыл бұрын

@@sirridesalot6652 I've got the book on the shelf, but from memory Bellamy's tank easily made the jump, the other two barely did.

My uncle liked the Cromwell (he had one shot out under him), but he loved the Comet. You gotta do the Comet.

@ballagh

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely cover the Comet, the ultimate evolution of the Christie tanks!

Beauty. My father also served in Dunkirk in the Czechoslovak Armored Brigade.

Cromwell and Churchill tanks are my favorite British tanks of them all. I love everything about them.

Great to see a Cromwell in running order. I have always thought it was underrated and it is good to see it getting the appreciation it deserves.

My dad was a tamk Captain in WW2 he said he was always involved in the never ending ongoing upgrading of the Churchill tank but got excited when the Cromwell came along I remember him saying though later on "It was the Centurion they really needed" " If only he would say" and I as kid would just think how uncomfortable it must have been for them all in that metal box ?!

This vid is pure gold. You really sense the enthusiasm that both these guys have for the subject matter. A very nice privately restoration and Tobin's knowledge plays well with that of James. As many other commentators have said, I'd thoroughly recommend reading Bill Bellamy's, 'Troop Leader'. Think I'll give it a re read myself.

Nice to see a running Cromwell Tank! It's often overlooked that only about 1/4 of tank ammunition fired by the Allies in NW Europe in 1944-45 was armour piercing. While the 17pdr was a great anti tank gun, the all round versatility of the 75mm still had its place on the battlefield.

@wayneantoniazzi2706

2 жыл бұрын

American tankers felt the same. While the 76mm gun was a great anti-tank weapon that's about all it was good for. The 75mm was the more versatile of the two. It's easy to lose sight of the fact that tanks aren't there just to fight other tanks, although that ability is certainly important.

@ericamborsky3230

2 жыл бұрын

Depending on who you ask, many tankers feared anti tank guns more than they feared enemy tanks.

@wayneantoniazzi2706

2 жыл бұрын

@@ericamborsky3230 Makes sense, small and easily concealed even when mounted on some vehicles you wouldn't know there was an anti-tank gun around until it was too late.

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

The 75mm could reliably kill most german tanks that where around. Panther/Tiger (and variants) where rare, even more so in the west. And yes, a good "HE thrower" is very useful against the PAK and against infantry AT-teams. While fictional "A Bridge to far" gives a good (based on reality unlike a certain movie with that ole german guy 131 and the ex of Angelina Jolie) idea what a proper PAK ambush could do.

@wayneantoniazzi2706

2 жыл бұрын

@@mbr5742 A 75 could take out or at least disable a Panther or a Tiger, depending on where you hit it. There's an instance of a 37mm gun stopping a Tiger, needless to say it was a rear-end shot into the engine compartment! And of course a 75mm gun-equipped Western Allies tank could hold it's own against a Panzer IV, the most common German tank in the west. But the saying's true, in a tank versus tank fight whoever gets the first shot in wins. Less said about "Fury" the better. I wasn't impressed.

I agree with James, its maneuverability was it's key point, if you could drive around faster than any other tank could turn its turret. My first boss was a British WW2 tank driver. I was a fascinated teenager, he didn't want to talk about it.

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

Maneuverability and strategic mobility. Cromwell and Comet where RUGGED. Even pre-production models compared well to mature M4 Shermans (Most problems where easily permanently fixed) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromwell_tank#Early_trials Try running a Nazi-Kitty that distance...

@minuteman4199

2 жыл бұрын

I think the Germans realized that too. Their first post war tank, the Leopard 1 sacrificed armour for speed, while the Brits went the other way with the Centurion and Chieftain, where they sacrificing speed for very heavy armour.

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

@@minuteman4199 The Centurion was designed when KE rounds where still the main tank killer(and Chieftain comes in at the end of that) Leopard 1 (and AMX 30) are from the HEAT as tank killer period but we have no armor against it period (the A3 and A4 variants use spaced armor)

@justforever96

2 жыл бұрын

Yea, on the very rare occasions when you found yourself point blank range against a Tiger (and only Tigers, since they had slow hand-cranked turrets, it wouldn't work at all against a typical tank with a powered traverse, like most Pz IV or Panther) you _might_ conceivably manage to move fast enough that they couldn't traverse their turret fast enough to catch you. Same was true of the M4 Medium and T34, and a number of other tanks. Tiger had a really slow traverse. But since 99% of all tank combat was at long range, it typically would be impossible to do that, since you are hundreds of yards away, you would have to be moving like 200 mph to outrace a tank turret. And there is the fact that most shots were made from ambush, before you ever saw the enemy or even registered where he was to run from him. And of course doing so would mean that you would _have_ to present your weak side armor to the enemy and hope like hell it actually works and he won't be able to hit you. Usually in tank combat you want to keep your frontal armor facing the enemy, since it is twice as thick, which obviously means driving past him at high speed is not a compatible tactic. And of course you would have to advance PAST the enemy, or turn and speed sideways across the battlefield, where usually you are in an advance in formation with a bunch of other tanks and can't just turn out and race off in your own direction. And the next problem is how do you get up beside the Tiger in the first place, when he is on his front line and starts shooting at you the moment you show up inside his range facing him? Like I said, you would have to go sideways, unless he just happened to stat shooting at you from the flank. CAN such a thing work? In theory. Were there cases were crews survived flank ambushes by powering out if it so fast the enemy crew had trouble shooting them? Yes, many, far more than cases where "he couldn't traverse fast enough to aim his gun at me". But was it a tactic that men went into battle planning to use? No, it is not Hollywood, it is not "Fury", crews weren't so stupid they would intentionally attack a Tiger hoping to keep driving fast enough that he won't be able to traverse fast enough to hit you. You will probably _die_ of you get it wrong, it is not a game. How do you even get close to him without him sniping you from 200 yards before you even get close enough to him to even hope to be moving sideways past him fast enough that he can't hit you? How do you shoot HIM if you are blasting past him at full speed (which you can only do on road, BTW)? Like I said, is you happen to look out through the smoke and fog one day and realize there is a Tiger tank sitting right on your flank about 50 feet away and starting to slew his gun, accelerating to full speed might be enough to save you. But next question is, how do you _get away_ ? Either you speed up and drive past and start speeding away from him...and present a nice stationary, _rear quarter_ (read _unarmored_ ) target as you drive away, or you just keep driving around him in circles (and wait for him to get sick of it and just stop his traverse and wait for you to come around in front of the gun again so he can blow you away, right?)? How do you get out of that? I assume you are picturing it just like the scene in Fury where they drive up close to the Tiger (somehow), and drive around him faster than he can track them, and put a round into his rear before he can shoot them. Is that about it? Yeah, that is not how tank combat works.

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

@@justforever96 Tiger (like Panther) had a powered turret traverse. With the same basic problem "Powered turret traverse was provided by the variable speed Boehringer-Sturm L4 hydraulic motor, which was driven from the main engine by a secondary drive shaft" (wiki but Spielberger gives the same information) The speed was based on the revs of the main engine. And the turret motor was not very powerful causing problems.

More James please! He’s got an enthusiasm for all things WW2 that’s contagious.

@Joze1090

2 жыл бұрын

His podcast (we have ways of making you talk) is absolutely phenomenal

@J1mston

2 жыл бұрын

@@Joze1090 I started it a few months ago and I'm about halfway through the back catalogue. I started it for Al but stayed for James (but they are both great).

@Joze1090

2 жыл бұрын

@@J1mston same about the backlog with me. I actually purchased a month of their patreon recently to listen to them read audio books! I listen while I build models. It's a lovely time :)

@Surv1ve_Thrive

2 жыл бұрын

Great podcast. 🇬🇧👍

@a.y.t.a.s.494

2 жыл бұрын

His books are awesome too.

Hi James, my name is Alan. Thank you for your presentation re the "Cromwell tank". As it happens I have great pride in being able to say that my Father was a tank commander of a Cromwell tank that was landed at Normandy. He was a tank commander in the Granadiers Guards Armoured division, formed in WW2. Interestingly I believe he was one of a few that brought the tank back that he took to the landings in Normandy.His battle details are archived at the Granadier Guards regiments museum next to Wellington Barracks in London. I WOULD LOVE AND INVITE COMMENT!!

@adrianb7597

Жыл бұрын

Good stuff

@jlr496

Жыл бұрын

That's some great family history there

The Cromwell is my second favorite tank ever, and this was such a blast to watch! Thank you James and History Hit for putting this out! I love hearing more detail about tanks like these, and while I watch Inside the Chieftains Hatch I love hearing from other historians about these beautiful pieces of machinery! The United Kingdom has certainly produced some of the most awesome looking tanks in history. The Cromwell, Scimitar, and Centurion just to name a few, and while I know a lot of about our own tanks that we've produced in the US, I love learning about British, German, Russian, and Swedish tanks as well!

Please review a Churchill Flamethrower. I'm 23 & my Great-Grandad drove one in France! I was lucky enough to be able to meet & remember him.

What a simply marvellous restoration. Huge respect!

Absolutely delightful piece of footage and my hat is off to the people who partook in the restoration of this legendary vehicle! When its Meteor roared i got goosebumps. Amazing work.

Thank you for it ALL: great tank cross talk, Merlin engine details, casual but informative walk-around (never saw a corner hatch before), fancy ride along & great production values. AND really nice Cromwell restoration, good job!

Love that turret, reminds me of a dalek!

I subscribed within 6 seconds of your intro. Very professional, good to see channels like this. Thankyou so much. Keep calm and carry on.

Great restoration and attention to detail it's great that we have so many good people that restore these historical iconic vehicles

@NexuJin

2 жыл бұрын

Totally!

Highly underestimated tank! People tend to go with the view of American historians that the British Army was totally equipped with American gear but that is so far from the truth! Our industry was massively focused on aircraft production from 39-43 but by late 43 - early 44 we really started focusing more on land and by 45 the army was almost totally equipped with British Cromwells, comets and just after the war centurions!

Perfect timing! I'm building a 1/6 scale RC Cromwell and need all the details I can get. Very nice video and editing too. 👌 My favourite WW2 Tank.

Interestingly that the QF 75mm gun was essentially a QF 6-pounder bored out to a 75mm caliber!

@bigchunk7246

2 жыл бұрын

i believe 6 pounders still were in Cromwells for a anti tank role. the apds it could use had almost 200mm of armour penetration

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

@@bigchunk7246 Where did you get the 200mm? Best penetration for the 6pf I find is 177 at 100m (That is good but "a tad close to the target")

@oliver8928

2 жыл бұрын

Up from a 6lb shell to a 14lb shell or something - it's not all about armour penetration!

@sirridesalot6652

Жыл бұрын

Just a couple of months ago I was able to get right beside a 6-pounder anti-tank gun on its carriage. I was quite surprised at how large that gun was. I can only imaging how much bigger a 17-pounder anti-tank gun was.

*That tank looks fantastic!*

What a stunning restoration and another excellent video. Keep up the amazing work!

@s.marcus3669

2 жыл бұрын

Not trolling you, but just curious about your username...

As a World of Tanks player, I really grew to like the Cromwell. Easily one of my favorite British tanks. I like the talks about the background tales of equipment and machinery inside a tank, and about the tank itself. Love to have more of those. Also: The tank restoration on this Cromwell is just awesome to see

@TwpsynMawr

Жыл бұрын

Wait until you find war thunder 😉

@NexuJin

Жыл бұрын

@@TwpsynMawr You really think a WoT player doesn't know about WT? I just happen not to like playing WT: I'm not willing to spend the time in it's grind mechanics. But at the same time i do not think it's bad game, I'm just not into it. I do watch some WT content occasionally tho.

it's my fave Armour piece, it's a WW2 racing tank, outstanding example, thanks for showing.

My favorite WW2 British tank ! 😍 This is really great to see one of these running again. Great job, bravo !

Great stuff. Really enjoyed the video and the way it was presented. The enthusiasm is infectious.

What a piece of history. Beautiful craftsmanship!

Fantastic restoration work on the tank and wonderful to see such a rare piece of history back in action.

A really nicely made, informative and enjoyable 30 minutes, I really liked this, thank you Mr. H.

Great vid. What a superb restoration of that tank, it looks mint. Nice to see one in such superb order.

I like your work James. Informative and entertaining

This was a fantastic presentation, I do hope there's more on tanks.

Many thanx Gents. Super to see the Cromwell in detail. Best regards 👍👍

She's a beauty! Tobin and his crew did a wonderful job restoring it; great to see it out and running. Thanks for showing us around.

Fantastic video, thanks History Hit!

What a fantastic example of restoration. Love the Cromwell. It doesn't get mentioned anywhere near enough.

Brilliant! James mentioned this on We have ways podcast. Can see how much you enjoyed this!

Thanks the video Mr. Holland!

I'm glad that they mentioned the Great Swan, where Cromwells spearheaded an advance that was faster than the Bltizkreig of 1940.

Brilliant insightful walk round, thanks for this

What a great restoration. Top work.

I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thank you, James, for a fascinating introduction to this splendid restoration headed by Tobin. I have a particular interest in tanks, my late father having served in 2nd Lothians and Border Horse in both North Africa and Italy in WWII. I have a photo of him as tank commander smartly stood with a friend and crew member (sadly I have forgotten his name) in front of his last tank (he rather modestly understated his luck and good fortune to survive at least 5 previous 'knocked out' Shermans). The name 'Arezzo' is written on the back and it's an upgraded Sherman, clearly improved frontal armour, with the American 3" (76.2mm) long barrelled high velocity gun. (No blast defector, or 'attenuator' fitted, just an apparent thread protector.) The photo is some time before the surrender of the axis forces - his friend in the picture barely escaped death a short time after the photo was taken, his severe injuries ended his days as a trooper. Wow, apologies, my ramblings are over. My main point is that Tobin said the crew were 'smaller' in those days. When my father reluctantly talked about WWII, he always used to laugh (army humour) about the difficulty of baling out of a stricken tank. He was the shortest of the crew - ok, he was tank commander and was in the turret, but obviously started out as an 18 year old trooper 'inside' - but at 6' 1" he was the shortest of the five when this photo was taken. The friend in my photo was 6' 4". If Tobin is referring to being lean and fit, that is certainly true. My father always reckoned he was at the peak of fitness during the war. After the axis surrender, the Lothians units were disbanded and my father, after working in the RAEC in Perugia and Venice, was transferred to central Europe to take part in less pleasant activities that he never, ever talked about - ever. He did, however, come across some Cromwells and remembered it as an excellent tank with a 'super' gun.

" A cracking piece of kit". Best line ever.

Great video. So good to see British vehicles being preserved from the second world war.

The Welsh Guards Armoured were primarily using Cromwells when they blitzed 100 miles in one day (3 September, 44) across Belgium and took Brussels. A feat described by one General as "'an armoured lash unequalled for speed in this or any other war".

Really enjoyed the video, just one thing that would have enhanced it further for me would have been to cut the dramatic music whilst the engine was running, I would really have liked to hear the Meteor properly. Other than that, a very good watch.

@SIETSE.WITZENBURG

2 жыл бұрын

my thoughts exactly

Thanks for an extreemy informative all round mini doco!

fantastic insight to the brilliant Cromwell .... and James Holland well what a historian he is !!!!

Great video and great historical insight and commentary by James Holland.

a beautiful restoration and superb video.

Fantastic review of one of my favourite tanks of all...!

Amazing to see & hear a live Cromwell!! Cheers!

Interesting to note that the most feared tank in Normandy wasn't the Tiger or Panther but the Churchill Crocodile which could throw its flame 80 to 120 yards............

My favourite tank of ww2 ,beautiful restoration job great presentation .

A most enjoyable video better than some of the other videos on history hit. It had in-depth conversation on the topic with no airy deviations (historical tangents are fine, but not off topic distractions like buttons). It had satistics and some discussion about the development of the tank and how it was used. Both of the people in the video knew what they where talking about. Overall the video was a really good step in the right direction. Unlike the video on the evolution of British army uniforms throughout history. Which was lacking in all the above points.

@NexuJin

2 жыл бұрын

Agree with all the points.

Really good James tar. Back to the tank museum lads

Lovely production. Well done.

Great video,and a magnificent bit of restoration work! That really has been beautifully restored. The Cromwell always seems to get a raw deal. No it wasn't the best tank of the war but it had brilliant speed and mobility and despite a lot of criticism there was still something to be said for a dual purpose gun. The weakest part of the design was the armour protection. Arguably the best heavy reconnaissance vehicle of the war in being very fast and with decent protection and fire power.

love the Tank series on History Hit, very insightful.

Great video! I'm just finishing up a Tamiya 1/35 scale model of the Cromwell, and this provides excellent visual information. It looks like Tamiya got the details right, as they usually do.

Great film . Thanks.

Absolutely beautiful restoration job.

Thank you for talking about the rear smoke screen boxes! I always wondered what those were!

Excellent documentary

I see the Cromwell in a new light as a child i was embarrassed by our efforts but what a usefull bit of kit

Cracking piece of kit! Carry on!

The Cromwell tank was still in service with BAOR(British Army of the Rhine) up to the early 1950's.

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

Cromwell or Comet? Comet definitly was in service with BAOR (and the 77mm was a credibel threat). Not sure about the Cromwell

Thank you. When I was a model tank builder, my main interest was early WWII , north african desert. I built the Matilda for african desrert. There were no other Brit tanks back then. A couple years after I stopped building models.., I think it was Airfix who brought out a cruiser tank. I built the early German, Italian and U.S.. But I really wanted those early war Brit tanks

@garymathison8361

Жыл бұрын

Did you mean the Crusader? There was also the Valantine Tank. Many were shipped to Russia in late 41 and 42 at the expense of the British and Commonwealth forces in N Africa. THey proved successful against the German tanks at that time.

@gandydancer9710

Жыл бұрын

@@garymathison8361 I think he meant that there were no other models of Brit tanks available back when he was building them, not that there weren't any other Brit tanks in the desert, which there certainly were.

such a beautiful restoration on that tank

Brilliant vid ,really love the Cromwell, such a beauty of a thing to see and admire ,and it looks right, and to jump a canal (Lindy beige has a vid on that ),flipping great ,and more to restore ,excellent …

@mbryson2899

2 жыл бұрын

THANK YOU! I knew I remembered a jumping Cromwell but for the life of me I couldn't recall that it was Lindybeige. I should have noted the presenter's wardrobe. ;)

@eightlegger

2 жыл бұрын

Read the book Troop Leader by Bill Bellamy, that’s where the story comes from, it’s a fascinating read.

@markrunnalls7215

2 жыл бұрын

@@eightlegger oh brilliant right I shall look into that kind thanks. 👍

Who put the music over the sound of the Meteor? Shame on them!

My favourite tank. Thank you.

My great-grandfather (Col. Charles W. King) was in the Royal Engineers, and worked with Percy Hobart (Hobo) on tanks like this and the floating DD tanks. He never really spoke about any of it, but we recently found a photograph of him and five other officers (including Hobo) outside Belsen concentration camp. Turns out they were the first men through the gates at that site.Would be interesting to find out exactly what he worked on. After the war he designed chassis for Lagonda cars, mostly V-12s.

Just a terrific presentation. Thank you so much. As an American, I am very familiar with our war production, but I find English war production even more amazing. Here you were, under attack daily and still able to engineer and produce such awe-inspiring things like the Cromwell.

Amazing restoration,the only running Cromwell in the world I believe. I'm not convinced the driver's and hull gunner's hatches are very escape friendly. I think I'm correct in saying that later marks of the Churchill also had all round vision commander's cupolas,as did the Comet.German tanks had commander's cupolas like this years earlier.

@gloriouswar9116

2 жыл бұрын

The Matilda 2 had a cupola I pretty sure

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

It is a Comet (but IIRC the hatch is the same) and the Chieftain is "a bit tall for a tanker" but: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ioKBldWtgdrNabg.html It is quite funny ;)

@CarLos-yi7ne

Жыл бұрын

There is also a running Cromwell @ Bastogne Barracks, Belgium. And a Comet as well. I will check them out next weekend @ Nuts-Weekend: commemoration of The Battle of the Bulge".

@ddraig1957

Жыл бұрын

@@CarLos-yi7ne The Bastogne Museum looks amazing. I've seen videos of the Battle of the Bulge event,and it seems to be one of the most impressive ones of it's kind.

@CarLos-yi7ne

Жыл бұрын

@@ddraig1957 Yes, it is quite big and seems to get bigger every year. We go there every two/three years. It is a three hour drive for us and stay all weekend. When you search on "Manhay 2019" you will find a lot of muddy reenctment.

USA here. What a stunning restoration. The boxy design is rather nice looking, esp when you the consider the construction restraints It was built under. Primo presentation and subject matter expert. The kit are great design features. All in all I think it beats the Sherman!

Great to have come across this log site

What a beautiful restoration, love it!

Great views of a formidable tank (for the times). I wish many of the views had dwelled longer, as by the time one detail was barely spotted, the director switched. But why the sharp angles on the turret and blank, no slope on the turret? Well they had no ability yet to cast or weld better. Very interesting also, the description of the smoke bomb attachments and usage at 12:04. Indeed, it was "a cracking piece of kit".

A brilliant piece on a fascinating tank that I really did not know that much about!

@patagualianmostly7437

2 жыл бұрын

Me neither! But I liked the way the enthusiast got more confident as time went on.... He was nervy at the start, then became "professional"... Much applause from me, I can assure you. My heartfelt thanks to the man.

Great video! So much interesting info presented in an engaging and enthusiastic way. Great to see that a fully functional, beautifully restored Cromwell exists today… Did not realize had such an impressive top speed

This is such a brilliant series all round.

Excellent . Thank you

Great tank with excellent sloping of the hull & turret armour. (Sarcasm)

If you want to know more about the, Rolls-Royce, genesis of this tank then try get hold of a book called "Silver ghosts and silver dawn" by W.A. Robotham. I don't think it's still in print. Also the Roll-Royce Heritage Trust publication: "The Rolls-Royce Meteor- Cromwell and other applications". This covers development of the Meteor tank engine from the Merlin. I bleieve this is still in print. I can recommend both books.

These are great tank reviews, in formative and even handed content. Only niggle is l would've liked to see the driver working from inside on the move. Possible with smaller camera, worth the exchange for size over quality?

Thanks for posting this video. I can see that Cromwell was apparently a better tank than some of the stories of the past gave it.

Great inside shots of the vehicle. I love the silver paint finish.

Well done and extremely interesting. This tank is a fine looking chunk of British ingenuity.

Very professional presentation.

As a We Have Ways member I think you are spot on in assessment the Cromwell. And of course you can see where the came from.

Beautifully restored vehicle!

Superb thank you.