History of War – October 2019

W

argamingis
oneof the
biggestmilitary
historyvideogame
companiesin the
world.Itsfree-to-playonlineactiongames
include World Of Tanks but it is also highly
active in funding projects to preserve military
cultural heritage worldwide. In the past the
company has been instrumental in the recovery
of the world’s last remaining Dornier Do 17 and
Panzer VIII Maus among others.
“Museums have a very similar philosophy to
us but in our turbulent economic times there
is not much money,” commented Wargaming’s
CEO Victor Kislyi on the ethos behind the
company’s restoration projects. “They are
always short of resources so we found a way
to connect and start helping them. They are
passionate about history and people need to
know about it.”
As one of the main sponsors for the
internationally renowned Tankfest at the
Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, UK,
Wargaming’s latest project is the full
restoration of one of the few remaining
Panther medium tanks.
A single Panther held in the collection of
the Musée des Blindés in Saumur, France,
was chosen for the project. Unusually, this

machinehadbeencapturedin Normandy

duringthewar,andthenredeployedbythe

FrenchResistance.

RichardCutland,headof militaryrelations

Europeat Wargaming,previouslyserved 30

yearsin theRoyalTankRegimentandis a

veteran of numerous operational tours, including

the Iraq War. He discusses how the Panther was

restored, the thrill of driving WWII tanks and the

importance of remembering armoured history.

What was the idea behind the development of

the Panther?

The whole idea was to counter the T-34. At that

stage the Soviets were pushing out hundreds

of them off the production line and they were

working really well. They were efficient, cheap

to manufacture and there were a lot of them.

The Germans said “we need to counter this” so

they came up with the Panther.

Like the Tiger, the Panthers were great

vehicles with great guns although some

historians might argue that they were a little

over-engineered and not so good for reliability.

However, that was the idea of German tactics,

which was blitzkrieg. This meant driving forwards

as fast as you could to take things quickly.

How did Wargaming work with the Musée des

Blindés to restore the Panther for Tankfest?

Aswell as his operational service,

Richard Cutland taught armoured

cticsin the British Army and worked

selywith the General Staff’s Briefing

under General Sir Mike Jackson

Restoring WWII vehicles is a
lengthy process and can take years

The restored tank’s debut made

a guest appearance in the

display arena of Tankfest at the

Tank Museum, 29 June 2019

Tankfestis theannual

events highlight at the

Tank Museum, the world’s

largest collection of historic

armoured vehicles

World of Tanks is a massive multi-player online game

featuring mid-20th Century combat vehicles

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Team

In preparation for Tankfest 2 company Wargaming has

been busy supporting the restoration of an iconic German tank

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storation