Challenger tank of 15th/19th King's Royal Hussars, 4 March 1945

Photograph, World War Two, North West Europe (1944-1945), 1945.

Lieutenant Edward Deeming's Challenger A30 tank, camouflaged with foliage, is pictured at Hellmannshof, south of Udem in the Rhineland, after the Schlieffen Line had been breached. 15th/19th King's Royal Hussars were the divisional reconnaissance regiment for 11th Armoured Division.

The five man crew are named as: Lieutenant Deeming (with binocular case) then clockwise - Trooper Ken Harrison (operator), Trooper D J Cain (gunner), Trooper S T Ellis (loader), and Trooper P F 'Smacker' Smith (driver).

The Challenger was a stopgap design based on the chassis of a Cromwell tank with a new turret built to house a heavier 17-pounder gun. It was also armed with a Browning .30 inch machine gun.

From a collection of 74 photographs.