Got to add a Bronco A 34 to my stash. Am planning on doing it as one with the Berlin Brigade. Was looking at the Star decal set. It shows one with the Queens Own Hussars in 1950. However ..... QOH was not formed till 58, by combining the 3d (King's Own) and 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars. The 7th was in Germany at the time (Luneburg in 49/50, then Bad Fallinbostel in 51) A source I found lists the armor in Berlin at the time as From May 49, A Squad. Royal Dragoons. Relieved by A Squad. Royal Horse in Mar. 50, then 1st Squad. Kings Own Hussars in Feb. 51. Soooo ..... are the Star markings actually Royal Horse? Also, would the color be SCC 15 or would it have been repainted Deep Bronze by 50? (Would like to do another from the Hong Kong Garrison and have one SCC 15 and the other Deep Bronze to show the difference .)

I'm pretty sure from memory that the decals for 'Arrogant' etc. are for a vehicle from 1960... I just tried looking at them on google and I'm 99% sure it does say 1960 - just can't find a high res pic to get rid of that 1% of doubt :-) edit - I did an image search and there are a few photos of Arrogant captioned 1960 - here's one

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/gb/a34-cruiser-tank-comet-mark-i

I saw that since my post. I thought the Comets were gone, except for some TA units by 57 -58.

Timothy,

The Star decal set to me appears to cite 1960 as the date for the vehicle shown. References to the regimental history state that the QOH formed the first Armoured Squadron in 1965, but I don't think this is true; from 1960 to 1965 they were based in Germany and the Squadron for Berlin duty was nearly always found from within German-based (ie BAOR) units on a rotation basis. Therefore it is perfectly feasible to consider that a Squadron from QOH would have served in Berlin in 1960.

As to Comet being the vehicle of choice in Berlin, the Berlin Brigade was never considered as suitable for brand new state of the art equipment - although it did indeed have a representative/political purpose; its role - sometimes described as a speed bump for attacking Soviet units - would suggest that there wasn't much point in such kit being issued. It is just possible that Comets soldiered on until 1960 while the rest of the Army was using Centurion. Just. I cannot think of any other explanation for the Star decal set or the photograph they're based on.

Coverage of the Berlin Wall crisis the following year shows Centurions from the RTR equipping the Squadron.

Soooo, I'm happy to be corrected in what after all, is supposition; if, and a fairly big if, Comets were still around in Berlin in 1960, then Deep Bronze Green would have been the colour.

As with so many of my posts I'm not sure if this helps at all.

Brian

I do know the Berlin Brigade was pretty much a museum force. They had Chieftains when The Wall fell. I heard both them and the Hong Kong Garrison were pretty much throw away units if the defecation hit the ventilation. The site I found (http://coldwardecoded.blogspot.com/2013/08/behind-enemy-lines-part-ii-berlin.html )does show the QOH (A Squad.) was listed at Smuts Barracks from Feb 65 (oddly they were there till 1968. A long tour. Wonder who they pissed off.) I checked the Star site. The decals in question do show "1950" ..... Type-o?

Might be a clue. Just found a photo of a Centurion labeled as being on a gunnery range at Spandau in 1961. AoS is red/yellow with a "2" and what looks like a Berlin Brigade emblem. Inventory # is 02BA21 and there is an eye painted on the front of the storage bin on the turret. (4 RTR?) Also a couple shots from 61-62 on excercizes in Grunewald. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/british-tank-berlin.html