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Centurion in Action (Armor 13) By Stephen Tunbridge

During World War II the traditional British doctrine of having specialized categories of tanks to work with infantry on the one hand, and, to operate in armoured divisions against enemy tanks, on the other hand was revised as a result of experience gained in the North African campaigns. In September 1942, the War Office requirement for tank development laid emphasis on the need for a 'universal' or general purpose tank chassis which could be readily adapted to meet various specialized tasks including development in both the above-mentioned Infantry and Cruiser roles. In the past it had been necessary to have a number of chassis designs, each of a distinctive and separate pattern, with all the disadvantages inherent with this lack of standardization.

At the same time as design was in progress on the heavy'Cruiser' A41 in 1944, work was also proceeding on the more heavily armoured 'Infantry' tank, the A45. The two tanks were to have a number of common assemblies in line with the Tank Board's decision of 1942 which had laid emphasis on the advantages to be obtained from standardization of designs for the two categories. It was intended that the weight of the A45 prototypes would be 55 tons with a maximum speed of 18 mph. These prototypes, which were to have a frontal armour of 6 inches equivalent thickness and incorporate the A41 turret and gun, were scheduled to be completed by mid-1946.

But by this time, the Sherman and the Churchill had demonstrated their ability of fulfilling the 'Cruiser' and 'Infantry' roles which had hitherto called for individual particular-purpose vehicles. This led to the abandonment of the separate Cruiser/Infantry concepts as a result of which only the A41 design which successfully met all the requirements for a 'universal' tank was proceeded with. Several years were to elapse before the A45 appeared in quite a different form as the FV 214 Conqueror.

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