FV4005 Centaur

In September 1945, the unexpected appearance of heavily armoured Soviet JS-3 (IS-3) tanks in the Victory Parade in Berlin shocked the Allies. The British War Office initiated research and development programmes to find new weapons that could knock out the JS-3 and future Soviet tanks. It was decided that the FV215 heavy gun tank would mount the first of these new weapons, and to help develop it, the FV4005 would produce a turret and gun mounting to prove and evaluate the concept as a self-propelled gun. The FV4005 was armed with a QF 183mm L4A1 tank gun. It fired a powerful 183mm HESH shell, and it was recorded that 'a single round would result in a kill regardless of the position of the point of strike'. Ed Webster has spent five years researching Britain's response at the National Archives at Kew, London. During this time, he discovered that many facts written about the FV4005 and the FV215 are incorrect. This book corrects those inaccuracies using primary source historical documents written at the time, and shines a light on the fascinating history of one of largest anti-tank guns known to have ever been fitted to any tank.