Challenger (A30)
In service 1944 - 1945
A lengthened Cromwell with a huge turret to squeeze in the 17-pdr - the stopgap before the Firefly.
Built byBirmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Co.
Photograph pending. No clearly licensed photograph of this vehicle was found.
Development history
To get the 17-pdr into a cruiser tank, the Cromwell hull was stretched to six road wheels and topped with a tall, thinly armoured turret. The result was tall, awkward and cramped, with the hull machine gunner deleted to make room for ammunition, but the gun was excellent. Around 200 were built and issued mainly to British and Polish armoured reconnaissance regiments in north-west Europe, where a few per squadron provided long-range anti-tank support alongside Cromwells. The Sherman Firefly proved the better answer, and the Comet superseded both.
Notable actions
- Battle of Normandy
- North-west Europe 1944-45