Hello,
i wonder which interior color was used at british tanks during WWII?
I saw pic's of a Churchill tank with silver interior. Is this the right color?

It could be silver (aluminium) or white depending on when it was built. Pre-war the standard finish was silver but as time progressed the aluminium content of the paint became scarce as it was needed for aircraft production, hence the change to white. I belive it may have reverted back to silver towards the end of the war, it certainly did post-war.

http://www.mafva.org.uk/Resources.asp

Thanks Geoff,
interesting link.
i am building a Churchill AVRE. Will white be the better choice?
Do you know the color of british tank radios?

cheers
Harald

Hello Harald,

I believe the casings were mostly dark green with the front being a pale grey, black dials with white markings.


Cheers
Kevin

I'm sorry to revive an old thread, but I've been wondering about the same question, but regarding the interior of Cromwells.




I originally thought it would have to be white for a Cromwell (given the time-frame), but then all colour photos I've seen of Cromwell interiors show silver/aluminium. Reading your above statement I started wondering if the silver interior of those (restored) Cromwells might be credited to post-war paint-jobs.

Take a look here... I didn't know that the interior of British tanks was painted in silver!
http://www.mapleleafup.org/vehicles/cac/churchill2.html

Giacomo, this is indeed a very interesting series of photos, especially since IIRC Mike Starmer wrote that Churchill interiors were white from the start, and since the Mk.VII Crocodile shown is a rather late variant (i.e. built at a time when British armour would sport white interiors, anyway).

As confusions seems to reign supreme as far as this question is concerned I've started to wonder if I can trust photos of restored vehicles at all.Well, probably not.

Definitely not, unless you know how much research was done during restoration.

David

More food for thought, I found a Churchill VII for sale on Milweb and hijacked this picture.



David