My New Vanguard book on the Churchill tankmentions on page 39 that the Churchill tank served with the Irish army in a much modified form until the late 1960's. I wasn't thinking of a modelling project, but am intrigued as to what those tanks were like.

There's one on this page, quite a long way down. Looks like an uparmoured tank with a 75mm gun which would make it (I think) a Churchill Mark X.

Churchill

David

There is a book about vehicles used by the Irish Army, can't recall the name but if I can get it in the Library I'll send on the info.
AFAIK all the Churchills were used as range targets and then buried in the Glen of Imaal. I don't recall seeing any during my service in the eighties. There were a few Comets around as memorials but no Churchills.

The Register on Armour in Focus has a mention (questioned) of a Mark X at the Curragh, but no pictures.

Armour in Focus

David

The Irish Churchills were Mk VIs and there were only four of them! They were obtained in 1948/9 and they served on into the 1960's for training and gunnery training. The army bought some Comets in the late 50's but tried to keep the Churchills in service for as long as possible alongside them. The last one was retired in 1969 and the army still has one at the Curragh Camp. I don't have the refs here but I googled some pics of it before in a sorry state with grass growing on top of the fenders!

One Churchill that broke down on the gunnery ranges and couldn't be repaired was used for firing only for a while before being buried but I read somewhere that this was dug up again (dunno what happened to it). The book Irish Army Vehicles has a lot of info on the Irish Churchills and there's the odd pic to be found on the net.
R

The Churchill in the picture on the Irish Army site has been fitted with an uparmouring set (bolts visible on the sides and the extra plate on the side door), uparmoured Mark VIs became Mark Xs

It's possible the Churchill excavated from the bog was given to the North Irish Horse.

David

One of the Churchill has been restored and is on display along side a restored Comet on Curragh Camp.
They have only been put on display in the last year or so, and look very nice.
Another couple of Comets are on the base, one of which is still in running order.
I will see if I can get a few photos over the nextweek or two.

Thanks David, I didn't know about the uparmouring and the Mk X distinction.
Vincent, I'd heard there was a running Comet. From the pics I've found, the Comets seemed to have a mix of features like WWII cowl exhausts and post-war smoke dischargers and who knows what else. I have the Bronco kit in the stash and if you can find any info or pics I'd love to see them.
Regards,
Rich

Hi Tom,

Here's my article about one of their Mark IVs which is now a Gatekeeper for the North Irish Horse in which I served.
See: http://www.northirishhorse.org/nih/Articles/Gatekeeper-1.html

Warmest regards,

Gerry

Thanks very much for the article Gerry, I was specially intrigued to read that the tank might have been fitted with a RR Meteor engine.

David

Rich, sorry about the delay as I have only just had a chance to get a few pics of the Comet and Churchill.
As I understand it, the vehicles were painted green prior to being put on display as the army has lots of green paint available, but would have been a gray colour while in service. Another of the Comets is on base in what appears to be it's original gray scheme. I will try to get some pics of that one on my next visit.
If you are looking for all of the pictures I have, PM me and I can e-mail them or burn them on to a disc for you.
Regards
Vincent.