words Andrew Stone pictures Andrew Stone & James Stone Tankfest, Bovington, UK Events
The restoration of the German Panzerkamp-
fwagen V, or type A Sdkfz tank, began at the
end of 2017. The chassis number is 155 506
and this same number is found in the turret.
It was built in the Machin Niedersachser
Hannover GmbH (MWH) factory and left the
facility on June 2, 1944. It bears number 314
on the Armored Vehicles’ Museum’s
inventory (Archangel). In the
1960s, the CDEB acquired
the collections that were
present inSatory and Gien, including numerous German
vehicles used for test purposes or opera-
tional purposes like the German vehicles.
When all versions of the vehicle are counted,
more than 6,000 Panthers were built during
World War Two, including 3,750 in 1944. It is
possible that the Panther ausf. A now being
restored at the Armored Vehicles’ Museum
was part of the Besnier Autonomous Tank
Squadron. The Panther ausf. G bore the
name of Dauphine; the Panther ausf. A was
named Bretagne in May 1945.Panzer power
such a large vehicle this distance is quite an un-
dertaking, so we would like to thank our French
counterparts and our sponsors World of Tanks
for making this possible,” said Richard.
The Jagdpanther, which has been loaned to the
museum by the Kent-based Weald Foundation,
last appeared at the event in 2017. Around 400
Jagdpanthers were built and went into action lat-
er in the war, serving on the Eastern and Western
Fronts. It was a formidable weapon – but fortu-
nately for the Allies, production of these vehicles
was limited by shortages of raw materials and
disruption caused by allied bombings.
In another fi rst, a Sherman Firefl y from the Bas-
togne Barracks in Belgium, part of the Belgian
Royal Military Museum, made a guest appear-
ance at the popular event. It was manufactured
in the US in 1942, delivered to Europe in 1943
and converted to a Firefl y in early 1944. After the
war, it was due to be scrapped, but avoided this
fate and was recently restored to running order
by the museum. The Firefl y, with its 17-pounder
gun, was considered the deadliest version of the
famous Sherman tank and one of the few Allied
tanks feared by the Germans. The Tank Muse-
um’s head of collections, Chris van Schaarden-
burgh, said the Firefl y was a “signifi cant World
War Two British innovation, tested just down
the road from The Tank Museum, and we are
extremely grateful to the Bastogne Barracks for
bringing it here to Bovington”.
The Firefl y took part in the D-Day 75 display, to
mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
A Type 95 Ha-Go tank, used by Japan during
World War Two, also drew large crowds of curi-
ous onlookers. Only two operational Ha-Go tanks
exist in the world and this was the fi rst time
Valentine DD tank
The impressive Leopard PRTL from the Royal
Netherlands Army
A Type 95 Ha-Go tank drew a lot of interest