From Phil Hasting comes this first hand account of his notorious Centurion crash. I much prefer to have the
story direct from the horses' mouth as it were than to rely on the folklore that this event has become.
The story was originally supplied to me in .jpg (picture file format) and as it would have taken a lot of time to
type this out and convert it to a html file, time I did't have, it originally appeared as a series of scans.
Now, thanks to Ian Dunster, who has converted it to text, you can read it a lot more easily.
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THE DAY THE EARTH MOVED
(Or how NOT to drive a Centurion Tank)
By Phill Hastings
By now news of my recent hair raising experience in a Centurion Tank has spread far and wide around the club network, so I thought it was time to let the full story come out.
First a little background though. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a retired detective living on a farm at Carabost in the south west slopes of NSW. Being an ex-Soldier I took the opportunity to fulfil a life long dream when I used my retirement package to buy an ex Australian Mk5/1 Centurion Main Battle Tank. The type I had been used to carting around the country when serving with a tank transporter unit some years before.
Owing to the high cost of fuel (Centurions use in the vicinity of 5 gallons of petrol per mile) and also to the fact that I have been ill, It took the best part of a year to change the 24 spark plugs of the Rolls Royce Meteor engine and get the old girl running 'right'.
By the time I was ready to hit the paddocks it was 10:15pm on Friday Feb 20. This was fortunate as the old girl tends to blow a lot of super-heated exhaust air out the back and with conditions on the farm so dry a night run was advisable. The Centurion is fitted with one large 24v headlamp and the route around the paddock is very well known to me. My experience behind the controls at this time amounted to no more than about 5 miles of walking the tank around the farm learning how to handle the 50 tons of monster as I went.
On this occasion I was feeling fairly confident as I 'walked’ the tank out of the house paddock, over some fallen timber, down a slope and across the creek. The steering brakes were none too
good so this required a huge amount of exertion to control the tank through a number of narrow gateways and tight turns before climbing the large hill on the far bank. On reaching the summit there is a fantastic view down over the surrounding farmland and on a clear starry sky such as this was, you could be forgiven for being distracted from your earthly activities.
Then the drama began. Centurions are fitted with a Merritt-Brown five speed crash transmission which is designed to allow the tank to 'power turn' in neutral for manoeuvring. I did not know that it was meant for level country ONLY. Having pivoted some 90 degrees to head across the slope I had just climbed the tank suddenly pitched nose forward down hill. At this early stage I had no idea of the danger and casually attempted to engage first then second gear without any success as the tank began to roll.
Centurions are also fitted with manual, lever-and-rod operated brakes. Remember that it is 50 tons and I have limited use of both legs from the knees down...... As the tank began gathering speed I felt sensations I never expected out of a vehicle with a rated top speed of 21mph. No amount of force on the steering or main brakes seemed to help and I can remember thinking I should try to jump clear.
At that exact moment a gum tree, three-feet wide across the trunk lunged into view in the headlight. What an amazing scene as the trunk splintered into a myriad of tiny match sticks and the trunk rocketed eight feet vertically. I could actually see the trunk disintegrate before me and feel the debris on my face as the trunk rocketed vertically before crashing down on the top of the turret far above me with a sickening crash. This all seemed to happen in slow motion and I remember feeling nothing as shock had set in by this time.
After tearing the stump of the poor old ghost gum out by the roots, the tank actually picked up even more speed down the slope heading for the creek. I remember thinking that this really would be a fatal experience as the tank would surely tumble over the creek bank and drown me in the deep muddy water.
The next thing I saw was the steel bridge hurtling into view and I was on a definite collision course with it - side on. I had just enough time to assume the 'crash position' before the tank leapt over the lip of the bank, became physically airborne for some distance and skipped across the top of the bridge. I then lost all sense of sight, sound and feeling as the tank flipped over onto the driver’s side, threw the right track and plowed into the opposite bank of the creek.
I was now in a state of deep shock as the tank teetered on its side and I actually thought I was upside down and waited for the inevitable cold water. The time was now 10:30. It was to be another ten minutes before the dust settled and I gained enough senses to scrambled out over the lower side of the tank, fearful that it would roll on top of me as I went. I stood on the bank and looked back at my pride and joy in the torchlight all covered in dirt and looking totally wrecked. I was so relieved to be alive that I promptly passed out and fell into a thistle bush.
When I finally stumbled back to the farmhouse I looked in near disbelief as I found only one small scratch on my arm (and a few thistle thorns!). For the next six evenings it was possible to hear the tank contracting and settling into it's grave in the creek bank. What had I done? You will have to read part two to find out but till then a quote;
"To change down it was necessary to double declutch but should the driver fail to engage the gear from neutral the results could be dire. The vehicle might career down the hill out of control and no amount of brake application would stop it as the brake linings burnt out in short order. This idiosyncrasy was known to Centurion drivers the world over and each nation had a pithy catch phrase such as 'doing an angel' and 'Mexican overdrive'"
(From the book 'CENTURION' by Simon Dunstan. Now out of print)
Phill Hastings
THE DAY THE EARTH MOVED AGAIN
(How to rescue a Centurion Tank)
By Phill
Following hot on the heels of part one of this gripping drama comes the dramatic climax. Well maybe not but read on. You may find it interesting.
Old Armageddon, as the tank is named, had to suffer the indignity of laying on her side in a ditch in the creek land for several days and nights while I made arrangements to have her carcass hauled back into dry land. Enter my friend Tim Vibert and his trusty Vietnam veteran Centurion Armoured Recovery Vehicle.
In preparation for the big day I had built a sand bag levy in the creek at the rear of the tank as well as dug out about a foot of earth from under the left side of the tank to help level the hull before winching began.
The big day dawned a hot humid heat wave so I put a bush-fire tanker in position in case of fire and requested the locals to stay away while we worked. After arrival on a semi-trailer Tim positioned the ARV and ably assisted by Vince Ryan and others we began rigging the winch gear. The ARV is capable of a thirty-ton straight pull and we thought it would be sufficient for the job. In the event the steel recovery hawser parted with a frightening series of whip cracks and Armageddon had hardly moved.
The Centurion ARV winch is powered by an eight-cylinder Rolls Royce designed petrol engine coupled to an electric generator, which in turn powers the winch. With this in mind it was surprising that we had to rig the recovery gear with a pulley block attached to the front of my tank. This effectively gained a mechanical advantage of sixty-tons which slowly and surely hauled the stricken vehicle free.
As the tank was on hard level ground I climbed back into the driver’s hatch and nervously settled back in behind the controls. With relative ease the engine was brought back to life very much to our combined relief! We moved the tank carefully back and forth as the thrown track slowly pulled itself back into position under the road wheels. Than with a roar of the mighty Meteor engine (and a cloud of white smoke) I victoriously drove the recently rescued Armageddon away from the crash site and back home up the hill.
After several very testing hours in the baking sun I can assure you that no one was as relieved that day that we were able to recover the Old girl without injury to the crew or the vehicles. Being able to simply drive the tank away under its own steam without major repairs was a bonus I dare not hope to receive until this time.
Once back in the relative safety of the workshop it was time to open all hatches and armoured covers and thoroughly assess the damage. To my intense delight the engine sustained a burst
radiator hose and lost air cleaner cover wing-nuts, otherwise it was perfectly free of damage. The right-hand rear track guards and tool bins were heavily stoved-in by the impact with the tree. A lot of panel beating was required to put this thick sheet metal back to nearly original. The front right trackguard was stoved into the right track and had to be hauled clear with a high lift jack. Three track links and pins were damaged beyond repair and will require replacement when the parts are available. (Not to mention the labour!)
Three right roadwheels were buckled, one of which had to be immediately replaced and several roadwheels had the rubber shredded when the track was run back on.
On the turret one of the two exterior six-barrel smoke grenade dischargers was ripped completely off the turret side and shattered into several pieces. A sheet steel cover for it was never found and this puzzles me to this day. Inside the turret (which was traversed to the rear at the time of the accident) my tool roll containing an original Centurion toolkit became jammed near the top of the breech ring of the 20 pounder main gun. This happened because on impact the barrel continued into full recoil and swallowed the tool roll which had been on top. At the same time the breech-block tore out the heavy steel shield which is designed to protect the crew commanders left knee and the gunners left arm.
A few other loose items of kit inside the tank flew around and I found about a dozen missing nuts and bolts in the turret floor.
As for the driver, I sustained nothing more than a hell of a scare and a small cut on my arm.
Finally, as was ably demonstrated at the recent open day here at the farm, the tank has been fully restored and repainted to the point where no obvious signs of the accident remain. Apart from a little moisture in the fuel the old girl goes as good as ever. By the way a whole day was spent adjusting the brakes and getting the handling of the tank back within limits. All that is needed now is some intensive training for the twit who crashed it!
Some good things have certainly come out of this experience. I have a far greater appreciation of the indestructibility of the old Centurion Tanks. No wonder Armageddon survived the Korean war while with the British Army, then Hong Kong Garrison duties and finally heavy training use with First Armoured Regiment around Puckapunyal.
Interestingly enough the Tank’s original crew commander is an associate of mine, and remembers crashing her into a huge gum tree shortly before her retirement In that altercation I think the crew came off second best.
Before consigning the ARV back to Tim Viberts collection I proudly had it stored in my machinery shed for a short while, which got me thinking maybe I should start saving for another Centurion to keep Armageddon company during these cold winter nights.........
Phill Hastings
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Download the big pics by clicking on the small pics...
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Download the big pics by clicking on the small pics...
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Download the big pics by clicking on the small pics...
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Download the big pics by clicking on the small pics...
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Download the big pics by clicking on the small pics...
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"Armageddon" under way on the farm.
My thanks to Phil, where ever he may be now. His email address is bouncing. Last
I heard he was in Perth W.A. If anyone has a working email address for him could
they please let me know?
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