Canadian Leopard 1’s
This is the latest of my articles on painting and modeling the Canadian Forces for Team Yankee.
When 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group was moved from Westphalia to Lahr on the Rhine frontier with France, some policy-makers apparently sought to do away with Canada’s tanks entirely. For some years, the brigade continued to use their Centurion tanks, an excellent tank in its day but one that could not be used on long road moves.
In 1975, the Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, visited Germany to ask the Chancellor for his support for getting Canada special trade status with the European Common Market. He was told to come back to discuss the matter once Canada had replaced its antiquated tanks. The contract for the Leopard tank acquisition followed quickly.