Com-Central.net

"megashorts" just posted pictures from this year Tankfest:
www.flickr.com/photos/megashorts/

Including Tortoise running and two tanks I've never seen before:
www.flickr.com/photos/...hotostream
www.flickr.com/photos/...hotostream

Massimo

Massimo,

there is also a new Panzer IV :



Bovington Tank Museum says :
"The wreck of this tank was found on the Finnish/Russian border where it has lain since its destruction as a result of combat or self-destruction on abandonment by the crew. An explosion in its ammunition storage area had ripped through the interior of the tank, and when the tank was discovered its condition was described as `distressed`"
http://www.tankmuseum.org/ixbin/indexplus?record=ART2992&_IXMENU_=news_and_events



I just can't believe they made a brand new tank (and a runner !!) from this very damaged wreck... any guess?

P-O

- the_shadock

Massimo,

there is also a new Panzer IV :



Bovington Tank Museum says :
"The wreck of this tank was found on the Finnish/Russian border where it has lain since its destruction as a result of combat or self-destruction on abandonment by the crew. An explosion in its ammunition storage area had ripped through the interior of the tank, and when the tank was discovered its condition was described as `distressed`"
http://www.tankmuseum.org/ixbin/indexplus?record=ART2992&_IXMENU_=news_and_events

[img]

P-O

and will be part of the Royal Jordanian Tank Museum

More Tankfest 2011, thisa time from Peeteekayy:
www.flickr.com/photos/...046909322/

Massimo

I wonder if the jordans will try to turn their Panther into a runner...

Massimo

Megashorts is still uploading new shots:
www.flickr.com/photos/...037610900/

Another guy published a dedicated set of pictures:
www.flickr.com/photos/jw021979/

Massimo

The Churchill Mk IV that has been seen being restored at the Isle of Wight Museum is a former Churchill Twin Ark bridgelayer.



I think that it comes from Bovington originally. Now it is a runner and it has been demonstrated at Tankfest :



I'm glad to see that at least one of the several tank restoration projects started at the Isle of Wight museum is now completed !!

P-O

Some sad news from Kevin Patrick :

"Good evening, Pierre-Olivier,

I have now spoken to my friend who has connections at Bovington - he was driving the Challenger I and the AMX30 this year at Tankfest. He says it is unlikely that the Tank Museum will ever restore the Sherman BARV, as they lack the money and the time, etc - it is hard to believe with such a superb collection of vehicles, but the Tank Museum receives very little government money, so they cannot afford to work on many of the hulks.

What is most likely is that, having saved it from more destruction on the ranges, they will exchange it for some spare parts with another museum or collector, or even a foreign government who want to add it to a state museum. This was the case with the Panzer 4 which appeared at Tankfest this year - it is owned by the Royal Jordanian collection (probably a relic of the Yom Kippur War, or similar). It has been restored in this country with some help from the Museum, but as the original engine was not available, it was replaced by an FV432 engine. My friend said it did not sound right, and he thought the restoration was very poor - he is a regular driver of the Museum's Panzer 3, so he knows what is right. He thought it looked like cheap replica (like the other Panzer 3 at Tankfest this year, which was also FV432 based). So the future for the BARV is uncertain, I am afraid.

So, I am sorry to report, I have no good news this time. If I do get any better information I'll send it on.

Regards, Kevin"

- bialy-r

- the_shadock

Massimo,

there is also a new Panzer IV :



Bovington Tank Museum says :
"The wreck of this tank was found on the Finnish/Russian border where it has lain since its destruction as a result of combat or self-destruction on abandonment by the crew. An explosion in its ammunition storage area had ripped through the interior of the tank, and when the tank was discovered its condition was described as `distressed`"
http://www.tankmuseum.org/ixbin/indexplus?record=ART2992&_IXMENU_=news_and_events

[img]

P-O

and will be part of the Royal Jordanian Tank Museum

www.warandpeaceshow.co...-SHOW.html

Now beautifully restored, the Panzer IV Ausf J model Panzer was rescued by Stephen Lamonby who runs Plus Film Ltd, which provides authentic military vehicles for film companies.

"It was discovered up near the Estonian-Russian border in very dense forest," he said. "Getting it out was quite a problem. We had to cut down lots of trees."

Let's put 2 & 2 together & hope it does make (a Panzer) 4!
Would the above "restoration" (As it's getting pretty close to being a "replication") be the tank in the lists:-
"PzKpfw. IV Ausf. ? – Unknown location
This vehicle is being restored at A+S in Suffolk, for an unnamed customer.It will apparently be able to run with an FV432 engine & gearbox (AFV News forum)"

- Pzkpfw-e

Let's put 2 & 2 together & hope it does make (a Panzer) 4!
Would the above "restoration" (As it's getting pretty close to being a "replication") be the tank in the lists:-
"PzKpfw. IV Ausf. ? – Unknown location
This vehicle is being restored at A+S in Suffolk, for an unnamed customer.It will apparently be able to run with an FV432 engine & gearbox (AFV News forum)"

I think so..
The PDF file is updated and I already removed the photo and comment.

P-O

Some update on the new storage building project:
www.tankmuseum.org/ixb...rd=ART3042

Massimo

- Massimo_Foti

Swedish Centurion



Massimo

Stumbling onto this thread again I remembered some stories I've heard from Swedish Centurion crew members. In fact, my current boss did his service as a "cent-driver" in the mid 80's. One story is named "never get caught sideways in an icy slope". Since the Centurion tracks lacks chevrons they can become skids in icy weather. That would be a sight coming towards you, a 54 ton skid ... ouch. Another story is a theme of "Necessity is the mother of invention". Lacking for instance heating for the crew compartment the number of soldier-modifications made to overcome this is close to endless, often quite dangerous and always against regulation. The most common being installing a commercial car compartment heater through innovative rewiring, and at the same time fit in a car stereo system. The last story for today is named "Don't forget where you tried to heat your can of beans", the amount of cleaning needed after a bean-bomb in a cramped compartment is no less than epic.

Talking about Swedish Centurion, a guy from the Museum told me that it's much more pleasant to drive it compared to the original English version. The original is kind of okay, the Swedish is a real joy.

That matches what I've heard from a former Centurion driver in the Israel Army. He drove the Centurion with the original engine/transmission, then the upgraded one (both during Six-days, Yom-Kippur and other clashes in between); and he says the upgraded powerpack was great.
The guy lives across the swiss/german border and volunteer in Full Militarmuseum, they have quite a few Centurions over there, but he dreams about restoring this unique prototype that is hidden inside Thun's barracks:
preservedtanks.com/Pro...queID=1212

Massimo

- Massimo_Foti

More Tankfest 2011, thisa time from Peeteekayy:
www.flickr.com/photos/...046909322/

Peeteekayy has been in touch with me and offered use of his photographs, which was much appreciated. I have added the Tankfest 2011 ones only so far. They have been added to each individual tank so this is the latest state of Bovington in the database:

Preserved Tanks at Bovington

Using the new 'contributor' feature it's also possible to just search on Peeteekayy's pictures - the feature is still unfinished, but it works fairly well here:

All pictures contributed by Peeteekayy

Most of the tanks he photographed belonged to Bovington, however he got some good pictures of the Pz IV that went to Jordan, so that made me research and write up the Pz IV in some detail (I had fun with the map!):

Unique ID 2170: PzKpfw IV at Royal Tank Museum

A bargain at half a million pounds?
Anyway that, of course, lead me to research and write up the Royal Tank Museum at Aqaba:

Location ID 42000: Royal Tank Museum, Aqaba, Jordan

- if anyone can help with more information (e.g. there's been a suggestion of a Stug gone there) or photographs, please let me know.

These things always seem to be in a web of connections, so naturally I wrote up up the tanks that went from Aqaba to the Czech republic, and so began an entry for Lesany:

Location ID 25000: Technical Museum, Lesany (ex-Jordanian vehicles only)

I also stumbled on another tank in Jordan so wrote that up:

Location ID 42100: Gulf of Aqaba (M42 Duster)

Preserved Tanks in Jordan

Meanwhile, since the Pz IV was restored by A+S I wrote them up:

Location ID 3350: A+S

which also lead to entries for two Sabres that they restored:

Location ID 85750: Wise Collection, Ohio

Location ID 3392: Unwin Collection, Hertfordshire

phew!