Osprey Publishing

Centurion vs. T-55 – Yom Kippur War - Osprey Duel Series

by  Simon Dunstan

Reviewed By  Marc Blackburn, IPMS #42892

MSRP: $17.95 ISBN: 9781846033698 Website: www.ospreypublishing.com The popular Osprey series, duel, is back with a new offering, this time pitting the British Centurion vs. the Soviet T-55. As the series suggests, each selection focuses on two weapon systems and provides a brief overview of their development, deployment, and combat. As can be expected with the Centurion and T-55, while these were meant to slug it out in northwestern Europe, they became famous in the Middle East where the Israelis fielded the Centurion or Shot Cal (whip in Hebrew) and the Syrians deployed the T-55. The first 37 pages of the book provide a brief technical overview of both vehicles. Both designs have their roots in the final years of World War Two and were not fielded in large numbers until the beginning of the Cold War. The technical overview is well illustrated and provides the necessary context to understand the origins of each vehicle in the armor doctrine of each country. While not an exhaustive overview, it is certainly appropriate for this work. As can be expected, the T-55 was designed to be mass produced in large numbers. Soviet doctrine used tanks in a direct assault role, requiring an advance in two or three echelons to completely overwhelm enemy defenses. The Centurion, on the other hand, was produced in smaller numbers and was meant to address the quantitative superiority of the Soviets through a quality product that in combination with a highly trained crew, could blunt and perhaps defeat the Soviet steam roller. For the purposes of this book, both the T-55 and Centurion were exported to client states and fought in the Middle East where both vehicles gained reputations that have become legendary. The last half of the book uses the Yom Kippur War and particularly the battles on the Golan Heights to tell the story of the two protagonists. Given the robustness of the Centurion's chassis, it was well suited for the rough, volcanic terrain found on the Golan Heights. The story told here certainly does not break any new ground and serves as a reminder of the both the hubris and heroism of the Israeli Defense Force during the touch and go battles in the opening days of the Arab offensive. Using photographs, original artwork, and maps, the author spells out the strategic situation prior to the battle and the vicious tank-to-tank combat that took plan on the Golan Heights. Unfortunately, while this book does a fair job of spelling out the differences in vehicles, most of the combat chapter is focused on the Centurion. By the end of the chapter on the struggles that took place on the Golan, the reader gets a fair idea of how well the Centurion and its crews performed stopping the Syrian advance. There is little said, however, of the performance of the T-55 and their Syrian crews except that the Israelis emerged victorious. It is a given that there is a paucity of published material in English on the Arab armies of the Yom Kippur War, but it's disappointing that the author did not devote equal time to the T-55. The epilogue is largely devoid of an analysis of these two protagonists which would be been helpful given that the series concentrates on ‘duels' between weapon systems. Despite the weaknesses of the publication, if you are looking for a brief overview of these two well known weapon systems, this offering by Osprey does a fair job of telling the story of the Centurion and T-55. My thanks to Osprey Publishing for providing IPMS/USA for providing this issue for review. For more information, please visit their web site at www.ospreypublishing.com.