Not to be a pain is the ass, but this "pounder" thingy is confusing to me. I know the M1 Abrams has a 105 mm main gun which looks much larger by comparison & back in the day the Germans had an 88 mm main gun. How does a 6 pounder compare with those?

Going to confuse you a bit more Tommy. The a M1 had a 105mm rd starting off but when the tank was up graded to the M1A1 it had a 120mm. The change took the tanks weight including some other changes from 60 tons to 63 tons. It was moded again and became the M1A2 with the same 120mm gun but the weight went up to 69.54 tons.

A 6pder or pounder is the approx. weight of the projectile. So that one I posted weighs that much. I should have mentioned in my picture you see a bass head on it. Well that unscrews and inside would be the charge and fuse. It also has a 1/2 raised bass ring about 1 inch from the botton of the projectile. It could be a type of compression ring to set off the fuse and charge when it hits something hard.

Not to be a pain is the ass, but this "pounder" thingy is confusing to me. I know the M1 Abrams has a 105 mm main gun which looks much larger by comparison & back in the day the Germans had an 88 mm main gun. How does a 6 pounder compare with those?

Going to confuse you a bit more Tommy. The a M1 had a 105mm rd starting off but when the tank was up graded to the M1A1 it had a 120mm. The change took the tanks weight including some other changes from 60 tons to 63 tons. It was moded again and became the M1A2 with the same 120mm gun but the weight went up to 69.54 tons.

A 6pder or pounder is the approx. weight of the projectile. So that one I posted weighs that much. I should have mentioned in my picture you see a bass head on it. Well that unscrews and inside would be the charge and fuse. It also has a 1/2 raised bass ring about 1 inch from the botton of the projectile. It could be a type of compression ring to set off the fuse and charge when it hits something hard.

OK, so the "pounder" thingy has to do with a weight of the projectile rather the mm has to do with the diameter of the rifle barrel. Now, can they accommodate sabat rounds?

Served on Centurians but not Leopards. I did go to the factory in Munich though with a group of other tanker where the leopard 1 was being made and trialed. The Centurian tank was great for it's time but not compared to the Leopard. Same size gun both had but it was like comparing a Ford Pinto to a Porsche 911.It was lower, faster to fire the main gun, faster to drive, much more forgiving ride on the crew with torsion bar suspenion to the point you could stand up in it riding cross country and not spill a drop. Easy maintence. You could replace the complete motor in under an hour. Evey hose was a quick disconnect. It had a snorkel system for crossing rivers. It's instruments were much easier to read in the dark. Every time we asked a question looking for fault the answer was fast coming back pointing out there was to fault and the reason why.

At this time Canada was looking at purchasing new tanks and if they had done it that day we would have jumped at the change of driving them the 400km back to our base and paid for the fuel out of our own pockets to boot.

Our Centurians had been moded up to a Mark 13 and weighed 63 ton fully loaded. The original one was advertised at 53 ton with the 20pder gun and fully loaded. By fully loaded it means with everything, crew, kit, ammo, rations etc.

Now that I think back, we were crossing high bridges over the autobahns marked to take only 50 ton. Smoothest drive I ever had in a Centurian was driving for 10 kms on the autobahn with a Police escort. We had rubber pads on the track for that or they would still be repairing it. Have another funny story I remember after talking to a old buddy on face book yesterday. He was also in Europe with me. We were at a gun camp at the British Base at Bergen Hohne German which is just down the road from Bergen Belsen. We use to go of an evening down to the town of Bergen for beer half chickens and fries. After doing this for few nights we were getting low on money. One of the guys says don't worry about it I'll pay and you two can pay me back. Sounded good to us and we stepped outside and waited for him to pay the bill and come out. Well apparently he didn't have money either. Only Canadian tire money which isn't worth anything unless you are buying something in a Canadian tire store in Canada. The bartender was use to all different monies from Europe and probably British but had never seem real Canadian money. Finally the guy joins us outside the bar and he's laughing his head off. We said what's so funny. He said I paid for our bill with Canadian tire money and even convinced him I should get 20 German marks change. The next morning we are all standing on parade with the SSM in front and along comes the bar tender with the phoney money. The SSM asks who did it and of course no one stepped forward. Next the guy with the SSM is allowed to walk and pick the man out of the three ranks of us. He does it twice but I guess we looked different in the day rather in a darkened bar and we had hats on. He couldn't point the guy out and starting walking away. The SSM is pissed by this time and says out loud, What kind of an ass hole would except Canadian Tire money in the first place. Look at it, would you? The Scot on the front means that he's cheap and saves his Canadian tire money to buy things.

Who is really keeping a close eye on the Ukraines right now is China. If they move in to try and take Taiwan they don't want to make the same mistakes Putin made going in trying to take the Ukraines. Everything from resupply to will the west help the Taiwanese or will they even bother.

Actually the 20pders is just short of the 88mm. It's 83.33mm. That's what gun the first Centurians had and them up graded to a 105mm gun.

I just posted what I googled Pete but I have just watched Mark Felton's vid and he puts the 17 ponder at 76.2mm. The Centurion was originally designed to take on the Tiger tanks in WW2 and very nearly did but the war came to an end just weeks before it was due to join the fray.

Tanks on parade for Memorial Day. Happened once & afterwards the repairs started on the road. After that damage we had the boy scouts, Lions Clubs, high school marching bands, & old farts from the American Legion trying to march in step, on display. 

Did we help repair the streets after tanks went through the European cities during WWII?

There was a crew of guys from our own Regiment that followed behind us and repaired most damage that was done. It was mostly getting the dirt off the roads when we crossed over them from field to field or repairing fences. If it couldn't be fixed by them and their was damage to a farmers crops etc, then they were paid out for the damages. I heard that the Brits didn't, calling it war reparations. I seen a Brit tank drive right through the middle a farmers sugar beet field and the beets were getting flung out the back like some machine was pulling them out. I also seen another Brit tank drive through another farmers Tulip field.. I can't for sure say if any compensation was paid out by the Brits Russans or Americans. We looked at it thinking the war is long over and now we are suppose to be allies.

Actually the 20pders is just short of the 88mm. It's 83.33mm. That's what gun the first Centurians had and them up graded to a 105mm gun.

I just posted what I googled Pete but I have just watched Mark Felton's vid and he puts the 17 ponder at 76.2mm. The Centurion was originally designed to take on the Tiger tanks in WW2 and very nearly did but the war came to an end just weeks before it was due to join the fray.

 Yes the 17pder was what tankers called the 76. They never said it real size of 76.2.

When my father was talking gun size on the Sherman he said the standard one was a 75 and there was one 76 issued to each troop officer. He mostly called the 76 a 17pder though. The Americans probably were issued more of the them that the other countries.

There was a crew of guys from our own Regiment that followed behind us and repaired most damage that was done.

Good grief.  Dudley Do-Right to the rescue again.

There was a crew of guys from our own Regiment that followed behind us and repaired most damage that was done.

Good grief.  Dudley Do-Right to the rescue again.

We are raised Shula to respect other peoples property in Canada so what can I say. It was a good go also being picked and I did it once or twice myself. You took your time stopped and seen the sites, when to the local gasthofs for beer and lunch.  As I said, these people weren't our enemy but would be standing beside us when the Big Red Bear crossed over the line. 

Rather have someone standing beside me and say, your the guy that fixed my fence last year so my cows couldn't get out, rather that standing beside the guy that says your the "A hole the broke down my fence and didn't stop to repair it.  My prised bull got out and got it my a truck and I had to go out of the business of farming because of it.

There was a crew of guys from our own Regiment that followed behind us and repaired most damage that was done.

Good grief.  Dudley Do-Right to the rescue again.

If we had girls in the Regiment at time, we would have taken them along and turned it into a party instead and stopped not just at some of the gasthofs, but at some of the discos which were out years before North America had them.

Had to be a jack of all trades Tommy. Couldn't just sit behind a typewriter all day and tweedle our thumbs. Us being there was probably the reason the Russian hordes never reached Beefalo. If the Russians in them days had performed as bad as they are right now, we probably wouldn't have needed the rest of Nato to help us take Moscow. We would have been there in less that a week holding a Victory parade in Red Square. Yes I got medals, but not for learning to tie my shoes by myself or for making my bed like the Americans got them for. Guys in the American army had more medals by the time that they had finished basic that our Generals had in 35 yrs of service. Here's a picture of a young American Private at his graduation parade.

Well Pete, there you go again. You know I was on station at the foot of Porter Ave. & when I was on duty not one single Viet Cong made it across the mighty Niagara. As a Yeoman striker I could type 65 words per minute so I take umbrage with your snide typewriter remark. I did get a paper cut once & it was very painful. 

What is this boloney. If they don't do exactly what Putin tells them to do. Since when does your commie friend that you buy your oil and wood off ruling the world. He can't even win a war against a small country like Ukraine.

 The Russians are out gunned with the modern equipment that the States and Nato countries are giving the Ukrainians. Putin lost 70 vehicles and a 1000 troops yesterday just trying to cross a small river.

The Ukrainian are using modern tactic also taught to the by Nato countries while Russian is still using WW2 ones. They don't even have a secure radio system to relay orders through and that's why they have lost so many battles and 8 generals to boot.

Good for theses guys.

It's very gratifying to see that Putin is getting his arse kicked in pretty much everything he does, but at the back of my mind is the horrible nagging thought that he could flip out and order a nuclear strike somewhere out of desperation. 

I'm sure Tommy in his days in the police will know of incidents in which a killer has been cornered with a hostage and despite being told "give yourself up, there's nowhere to go" he will still kill the hostage as he's gone too far already; one murder, two murders the result is the same, so why not. 

It's very gratifying to see that Putin is getting his arse kicked in pretty much everything he does, but at the back of my mind is the horrible nagging thought that he could flip out and order a nuclear strike somewhere out of desperation. 

I'm sure Tommy in his days in the police will know of incidents in which a killer has been cornered with a hostage and despite being told "give yourself up, there's nowhere to go" he will still kill the hostage as he's gone too far already; one murder, two murders the result is the same, so why not. 

The Ukrainian have charged a young Russian soldier with War crimes after he killed a civilan riding on a bike.

The only excuse the kid can give is he was under direct duress and would have been shoot himself by someone with rank if the order han't been carried out. Trouble is, that excuse didn't pass the test at Nurenburg but being an 19 yr old untrained conscript soldier, it may give the judge some thought to his punishment.

You just heard about it yesterday?? All real news stations have been talking about it for weeks. You must have also heard that the young soldiers and even the General aren't using a secure voice means ( secure radio) to talk back home to Russia and even the Generals are using cell phone to pass out orders.This is the main reason at least 8 of them have been knocked off  already.

 America and the Ukrainian know what's going to happen in advance which has helped them greatly. The officers is any army don't look after keeping the lower ranks in check and that's usually left to the Regimental Sgt Major. (Top Sgt in the American military). But it seems with this Russian group in Ukraine no ones really in charge and maybe, just maybe. that's why the looting and excessive murdering of civilians is going on. This is also why their losing so many men and and equipment, no chain of command structure so no one to teach proper tactical skills on the battle field. If the Russians didn't have so many men and equipment they would have lost the war out right the first week of the war.

Putin went into it thinking it would be easy; the Ukrainian army would collapse, the people would welcome the Russians as liberators and the West's response would be little more than verbal condemnation.

To declare it a fully blown war will be to recognize that his initial plan has failed and failure is something Putin can't contemplate as he knows his future will be in doubt if he does.