History of War – October 2019

Images:

Wargaming

Wewerewonderingwhatwecoulddoto upthe

anteforthearenadisplays.Wethoughtforthis

year“wouldn’tit begreatto takethePanther?”.

ThePantherwasin theircollectionbutit wasn’t

runningat thattime.

Onecriteriais thatit is a Germanvehicle,

whichhelps.Everybodyhasthispassionfor

Germanarmour,whichin a senseis a very

strangethingbuttrue.ThePantheralsohada

reallygoodback-story.At thatstagetherewere

onlytworunningPanthersin theworldbutto

havethreewasfantasticallyappealing.

Welookedat thebackstoryandit turnedout

thatthisPantherhadbeenabandonedbythe

Germansin Normandy,capturedbytheFrench

andusedbytheResistanceback

againsttheGermans.It’sa great

storyandhadeverything

goingforit. That’s

whenwebeganthe

processof working

closelywithboth

Wargaming extensively

collaborated with Musée

des Blindés to create a

3D model of the Panther

TherestoredPantherhasbeendigitally

re-createdforWorldOfTanks. It is

highlyhistoricallyaccuratedownto the

camouflageandFrenchroundel

Left:World Of Tanks is known for its high-quality historical

detailand has millions of registered players across the globe

museums and art development teams to bring

these working parts together to see if we could

make it happen.

It was lovely project because it was the

first time that we worked so closely with a

particular museum. They were super excited

about getting the Panther restored and making

it known to a wider public. We tried to involve

the museum in every stage of the development

and were constantly updating them with 3D

models. Although it was time-consuming it

was very worthwhile.

What was the most difficult part of the

restoration process?

As you can appreciate, restoring any vehicle of

this age is not an easy process. Restoring the

Maybach engine was probably the most difficult

part. They were amazing engines but fraught

with problems. There is a lot that can go wrong

with them and the trouble is you can never pre-

empt anything like that.

How does it feeltodrivethesevehicles?

I had the opportunityto drivethePanther,which

was amazing. ThelasttankI servedonwasa

Challenger 2 andit waslikecomparinga Ferrari

to a Morris Minor.They’reworldsapartbutit is

fascinating. However,alltanksarefundamentally

similar as far as theactualdrivingis concerned

although some aremuchbetterthanothers.

Some had steeringwheelsandothershad

tillers but they allhavetrackssothereis that

continuity. I’m alsodrawnto thestoriesbehind

the vehicles. I reallyappreciatetechnologybut

I love the humanelement.Togetinsidethese

vehicles and think,“Mygod,thisservedin war,”

is quite a feeling.

As a former tankveteran,howimportantare

events like Tankfesttoincreaseawarenessof

the history of armouredwarfare?

From a personal perspective,it’sniceto

remember thesepeoplewhogavesomuch

for us to live in thissociety.Byfarthebest

part of my job though,is to havedonesomany

interviews with WWIIveterans,includingpeople

who served on tanksin Normandy.I’vebeen

in conflicts myselfbutI wouldnevercompare

something like Iraqto WWII.Therearefewerand

fewer of these veteranseveryyearandI think

that keeping historyaliveis incrediblyimportant,

particularly to learnfromthelessonsof thepast.

“TO GET INSIDE THESE VEHICLES AND THINK, ‘MY GOD,

THIS SERVED IN WAR,’ IS QUITE A FEELING”

RESTORING A PANTHER