Tank Chats Reloaded | Challenger 1 | The Tank Museum

Hi Tank Nuts, let us know what you think of this new series. Feel free to leave any suggestions of episodes you'd like to see in the future!

Appreciate the interview with Brig Cordingly. I read his book (In the eye of the Storm) many years ago, he's as engaging in interview as his book was.

This is an absolutely fantastic piece of content, and Major General Cordingley was a fantastic speaker, please if you can do more like this

This is a great idea. Many of the early Tank Chats are just way too short, especially compared to the newer ones.

Hi, this piece is a great addition to The Tank Museum's already fascinating catalogue of videos. As a veteran who served on Challenger 1 in the Gulf from 1990 - 91, I drove "Churchill - 11B" 64KG87 for the then Lt. Col AG Denaro (Major General Denaro ret'd) which forms part of the museum's vast collection. I must add that I am extremely proud to have served with the Q.R.I.H. on Challenger 1. Maj. Gen. Cordingley has a lot to be proud of with everything he managed to put together to bring Challenger 1 to life. His account of the crews' pride and confidence in the vehicle, their mentality and training is absolutely correct. Keep the videos coming.

I use to make the sights for the Challenger, testing these in the tower and watching the cars, you could clearly see the occupants, the engine and the exhaust- glowing no matter the weather. The unit was so good, it was used by the RN on the wasps. We had a unit returned after a salvage op from a downed wasp and recovered from over 200m down. It came in and was stripped and it had no faults, seals perfect, lenses all good, electronics fine. It was rebuilt and resealed and sent back to the RN we were told it was down in the water for 9 months. The accuracy was down to the laser alignment jig & the portable unit that was on the back of the 4 tonne lorry. ~Trooper

[Paraphrased] "After day 2 we were trying to reach our objective without killing too many people" Wow. That is real power, being able win while exercising restraint!

Excellent format, well-produced and with a remarkably experienced SME in Patrick Cordingley. I found the behind-the-scenes accounts fascinating, along with the assessment of the Challenger 1's battle performance. Well done, all!

Love the new format. Hearing it "right from the horse's mouth" as it were adds a ton of additional information and context

This was phenomenal, I certainly hope you guys can interview more veterans in this fashion. First hand accounts of certain vehicles really adds depth to educational presentations.

In the Greek army we say " the best tank is the one with the best crew" and I think it's something that we shouldn't underestimate, especially in this case I mean in order to hit a target 5km away you both need an excellent vehicle and an excellent crew that can use the capabilities of that said vehicle

Would love to hear the US Marine tanker side to the same story when they were deployed with the British

I served for 18 years man and boy, in 3RTR, and spent 2 years on Challenger, it was a awesome tank, the turret was very similar to Chieftain, but the Hull, was a game changer, can't wait for the next Tank chat 😎

Truly a rare opportunity to speak with someone who was onvolved with implementing a weapon system and then actually went to battle in it. He is a remarkably well spoken gentleman as well, could spend hours listening to his stories!

This is brilliant - the input from Major General Patrick Cordingley is riveting. What a top notch contributor. Only the tank museum could put this together.

Peter de la Billière (British commander Gulf War) also expressed his respect and affection for the US Marines and regret to the point of being apologetic for having to leave them for a different start position before the attack. Incidentally, it was British pressure to be involved in the West flank main thrust that got them moved.

Cordingley sounds like a great commander to serve under, he seems like someone who is honest and cared for his men but was still willing to push them to succed

This is an excellent new format, thoroughly enjoyed this and looking forward to the next one. It would be very interesting to hear how Warsaw Pact crews viewed their Soviet MBTs and tactics against NATO forces.

What an incredible primary source the Major General is for this video. Just fantastic.

22:34 "...We actually knew where we were for the first time ever in the British army..." Love that tongue in cheek British sense of humor!