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Serial number plate Centurion?
The AFV ASSOCIATION was formed in 1964 to support the thoughts and research of all those interested in Armored Fighting Vehicles and related topics, such as AFV drawings. The emphasis has always been on sharing information and communicating with other members of similar interests; e.g. German armor, Japanese AFVs, or whatever.

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L.Delsing
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Posts: 960

Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:05 pm Post subject: Serial number plate Centurion?
Is this the serial number plate of the Centurion and what are the numbers meaning? img529.imageshack.us/i...40519k.jpg

TrevorLarkum
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Location: Northampton, England

Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:56 pm
Post subject: Re: Serial number plate Centurion?

W.D. No is the "War Department number", which means its registration number (13 BA 09). I guess the other number is the serial number - certainly the plate is in the style of the Vickers Elswick works of the 1940s/1950s, these are similar but are from the pre-war period and a bit more complex:

preservedtanks.com/Ima...814&Page=6

preservedtanks.com/Ima...202&Page=7

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Neil_Baumgardner
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Location: Arlington, VA

Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 12:24 am
Post subject: Re: Serial number plate Centurion?

- L.Delsing

Is this the serial number plate of the Centurion and what are the numbers meaning?

img529.imageshack.us/i...40519k.jpg

Ironically, that should not be identified as a "W.D. No." but rather a Vehicle Registration Number (VRN). WD Numbers were used during WWII and prior - they started with a T followed by numbers. Canadian WD Numbers started CT... VRNs have the number, letter, number combination.

A few vehicles of the early postwar period - notably early Centurion tanks, Churchill ARVs, Sherman BARVs - had both WD Numbers and VRNs (likely received the latter after the former went out of use). Perhaps this Centurion (which appears to have been a Mark 3 to 5) still had an old style plate and they stamped the VRN where the WD Number used to go. I suspect later plates said VRN...

It may be that the changover happened when the War Department was merged into the Ministry of Defense in 1964.

Neil

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