Combat Service
The Centaur was chiefly used for training; only those in specialist roles saw action. The Close Support version of the Centaur with a 95 mm howitzer replacing the 75mm saw service in small numbers as part of the Royal Marine Armoured Support Group on D-Day, and a number were used as the basis for combat engineering vehicles such as an armoured bulldozer.
The Sherman remained the most common tank in British and Commonwealth armoured units. Cromwells were used to fully equip only one division, the 7th Armoured Division. The Cromwell was also used as the main tank in the armoured reconnaissance regiments of British armoured divisions (Guards Armoured Division and 11th Armoured Division) in North West Europe, because of its great speed and relatively low profile. The Cromwell in turn was succeeded by small numbers of the Comet tank. The Comet was similar to the Cromwell, and shared some components, but had a superior gun in the 77 mm gun (a version of the 17 pounder).
In general the Cromwell was found to be very reliable with remarkable speed and manoeuvrability though it required more maintenance than the Sherman. The Cromwell was given a modification to the exhaust to direct the fumes so that they were not drawn into the fighting compartment - a problem found when tanks were drawn up together preparing for the advance.
In northern Europe, the Cromwell was used by Allied units of the 1st Polish Armoured Division (10th Mounted Rifle Regiment) and Czech Armoured Brigade.
After the war, the Cromwell remained in British service. It saw service in the Korean War with 7 RTR and the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars.
The Cromwell/Centaur had the distinction of being the first tank to go into service with the Greek Army during the reformation following the Second World War. Fifty-two Centaur I tanks were donated early in 1946, during the opening stages of the Greek Civil War, but they were kept in storage due to the lack of trained personnel. In 1947 the first Greek officers returned from training courses in the United Kingdom and training of tank crews began. The Centaur saw limited service in the civil war, as during the last year of the war (1949) battles were fought on mountains. Centaurs formed the core of the Greek Armour Corps during the 1950s, and were retired in 1962 having been replaced by US built M47s.
Finland used the Charioteer version of the Cromwell post war.
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