Curator David Willey gives chapter and verse on the German Main Battle Tank, Leopard 2, which first entered service with West Germany during the Cold War.
The Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank was kindly temporarily loaned to The Tank Museum by the Historic Collection of the Royal Netherlands Army.
Join Curator David Willey as he takes you on a tour of The Tank Museum’s Tank Story Hall, which houses over 30 key vehicles from Little Willie to Challenger 2. In this section he looks at the First World War vehicles and gives you a potted history of WW1.
This particular T-26 tank, at The Tank Museum, was a T-26A and, after capture by the Finns, modified to T-26B configuration. It was used by Soviet forces in the war against Finland in the winter of 1940/41. It was captured and used by the Finnish Army, in whose markings it is seen.
The Leopard 1 Main Battle Tank was built on Germany’s lessons from the Second World War. It entered service in 1965 and has since been exported worldwide.
Tank Museum Curator David Willey talks through this Cold War vehicle.
David Willey talks about the Beaverette, which was recently acquired by The Tank Museum.
Beaverettes were manufactured as a “stop gap” measure when invasion threatened in 1940, using the chassis of civilian saloon cars. These armoured cars were only ever issued to the Home Guard and RAF airfield defence units.
The Valentine Bridgelayer, on a Valentine Mark I hull, was developed in 1943 during the Second World War. They were largely superseded by Churchill Bridgelayer, although some Valentine Bridgelayers were used in north-west Europe from 1944 to 1945, because the supply of Churchill Bridgelayers could not meet demand.
David Willey, Tank Museum Curator, presents a Tank Chat on the Sherman Grizzly.
This version of the Sherman was built in Canada from October 1943. After the fall of France, the Canadians began making their own vehicles, beginning with the Ram tank based on the M3 Lee chassis before moving on to a modified M4 Sherman. Only about 180 were produced.
This vehicle is currently on loan to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien.
Another episode in the Tank Chats Funnies Specials, with David Fletcher looking at the weird and wonderful vehicles of 79th Armoured Division led by Major General Percy Hobart, known as “Hobart’s Funnies”.
The Buffalo, or Landing Vehicle Tracked IV (LVT), is a lightly armoured tracked amphibious carrier. British “Buffaloes” were used in Northern Italy during WW2 and were issued to the 79th Armoured Division in Northwest Europe where they played an important role in the crossing of the Rhine, in 1945. This particular Weasel is amphibious and was used in muddy and wet conditions, rather than directly in water.
Another episode in the Tank Chats Funnies Specials, with David Fletcher looking at the weird and wonderful vehicles of 79th Armoured Division led by Major General Percy Hobart, known as “Hobart’s Funnies”.
The Churchill AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers). The Churchill was the basis for a number of Funnies. David Fletcher looks at the Fascine, Bobbin, Small Box Girder bridge, Bullshorn plough, Conger, the Churchill ARK and Bridgelayer.
During World War One, Joseph Alphonse Huot, a Canadian machinist and blacksmith living in Quebec, designed a conversion of the Ross MkIII rifle to become an automatic rifle. The Ross was the standard issue Canadian rifle at the beginning of the war, and Huot wanted to find a way to economically provide Canadian forces with an automatic weapon. His conversion functioned by mounting a gas piston onto the side of the Ross barrel, adding a large action cover and 25-round drum magazine, and a Lewis-style cooling shroud over the barrel.
In initial testing with the Canadian army, the Huot performed well. It was seriously considered for adoption, but had to undergo British testing and approval before that could happen. In British testing (by now near the end of the war), it was found to run well enough and have some positive attributes, but not sufficient to justify replacement of the Lewis Gun. It was rejected, and the Canadian Corps finished the war with the Lewis instead. Huot had spent several years privately developing the weapon and two more working on salary for the Canadian military, and had gone into considerable personal debt for the project. He had secured a deal to receive royalties on production, but that of course came to naught when the design was rejected. Ultimately, he was compensated $25,000 in 1936 (of the $36,000 he claimed to have spent).
Only five of the guns were made in total, with four known to still exist. Two of them are in Ottawa at the Canadian War Museum and one in the Seaforth Highlanders Museum in Vancouver and one in the Army Museum in Halifax.
Thanks to the Canadian War Museum for providing me access to film this Huot for you!
Another episode in the Tank Chats Funnies Specials, with David Fletcher looking at the weird and wonderful vehicles of 79th Armoured Division led by Major General Percy Hobart, known as “Hobart’s Funnies”.
The Sherman DD, or Duplex Drive, was a term applied to Sherman tanks modified for amphibious operations. DD tanks were used by American, British and Canadian forces in WW2 on D-Day, 6 June 1944; by the Americans again in the south of France and by the Americans and British during the Rhine crossing.
Another episode in the Tank Chats Funnies Specials, with David Fletcher looking at the weird and wonderful vehicles of 79th Armoured Division led by Major General Percy Hobart, known as “Hobart’s Funnies”.
The Churchill Crocodile was a British flamethrower tank and a variant of the Churchill Mark VII tank. The Crocodile was developed in time for the D-Day landings and used during the Allied invasion of North-West Europe.
