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About PreservedTanks.com    PreservedTanks.com has been created by Trevor Larkum of Armour Archive to provide information on preserved tanks around the world. It was initially built using the content from existing Armour Archive publications, including Preserved German Tanks 1: A7V to Panzer IV, Preserved German Tanks 2: Panzer V Panther to Leopard 2, Preserved Tanks in France, Preserved Tanks in Russia, and so on (these publications are available as paperback books from Armour Archive). The first books to be put online were Preserved German Tanks Volumes 1 and 2 (see the links at the top). Then the first chapters of Preserved Tanks in Russia (covering the Kubinka and Moscow collections) and Preserved Tanks in France (covering Normandy and the Saumur armour museum) were added. The site went online 8 June 2008. Since then a large number of tanks and collections have been added covering many countries of the world, including UK, USA, Canada, Netherlands, Brazil, Italy, and so on. This work is planned to continue until all preserved tanks (i.e. those no longer in military service) have been recorded.

Latest Blog Entries

Sunday, August 10, 2014 Long Term Catch-up 2    Continuing my catch-up of past developments, in 2012 I also wrote up the Dutch Cavalry Museum at Amersfoort in the Netherlands, and the Danbury collection in Connecticut, USA. Dutch Cavalry Museum, Amersfoort Military Museum of Southern New England, Danbury In 2013 the write-ups for Borden, Canada, and Aldershot, UK, were completed - work on other 2013 projects (particularly in Canada and the Netherlands) continues in 2014 and will be covered in future posts. Canadian Forces Base, Borden Aldershot Military Museum admin at 12:57 PM | (128766) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Monday, March 17, 2014 Long Term Catch-up    It's been a long time since my last blog post - a lot of work has been done on the site since then so I'll show some highlights here. The big news of 2011 was covering the large collections of Overloon in the Netherlands, and Armourgeddon in the UK, in between writing a complete new book on Preserved Tanks in Brazil. In total more than 2300 photo's were added to the database.   Liberty Park Oorlogsmuseum, Overloon, Netherlands   Armourgeddon, UK   Preserved Tanks in Brazil   The highlight of 2012 was undoubtedly completing the write-up of Bovington Tank Museum, including its reserve collections. It is probably the single biggest tank collection in the world with 250 tanks, the only other potential competitors being Kubinka and Saumur - at least since the collections in the US at APG and Fort Knox have been broken up. It is surely the premier collection in the world since it leads the way in the restoration of running vehicles and in providing public display facilities for the bulk of its collection. Writing it up was certainly a labour of love, and I believe the first time ever that the reserve collection has been fully catalogued.   Preserved Tanks at Bovington Two other major developments in 2012 were the sections on Preserved Tanks in Poland, and the Isle of Wight Military Museum, UK. Preserved Tanks in Poland   Isle of Wight Military Museum admin at 1:56 PM | (1) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Monday, October 31, 2011 Preserved Tanks in Italy and UK    Catch-up, continued. From January to February I worked with Massimo Foti on adding some more locations in Italy, for example: Museo Storico della Motorizzazione Militare, Cecchignola Caserma Fratelli De Carli, Cordenons Defence Line Emplacements, Tagliamento River Preserved Tanks in Italy In March I began work on writing up Bovington Tank Museum, a huge task that I have not yet finished: Bovington Tank Museum, Wareham Bovington Camp ATDU and Solitary Vehicles I also wrote up the Lulworth Ranges: Royal Armoured Corps Gunnery School, Lulworth Camp Preserved Tanks in Britain admin at 11:57 PM | (0) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Friday, September 30, 2011 Preserved Tanks in USA    I can't believe I haven't posted for a year - it's not that I haven't been busy developing the site, rather that I've been too busy doing it. Anyway, I'll try to post more often, beginning with a catch-up. From August last year to January this year I worked on updating the status of the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, particularly the changes caused by BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) and the movement of vehicles from FK to Fort Benning: Preserved Tanks at Fort Knox BRAC Transfer, Fort Knox Preserved Tanks at Fort Benning In parallel I added entries for Fort Irwin, Mississippi Armed Forces Museum, Lewis Army Museum and the Patton Museum in California: Preserved Tanks at Fort Irwin Preserved Tanks at Mississippi Armed Forces Museum Preserved Tanks at Lewis Army Museum Preserved Tanks at Patton Museum, California Between them these have helped fill out the America section, though there is still a lot of work to do: Preserved Tanks in USA admin at 7:15 PM | (6) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Wednesday, June 30, 2010 Preserved Tanks in Egypt    My thanks go to Ian Holloway who contacted me, having seen the item on Preserved Tanks in Italy, and provided photo's of preserved Italian and other tanks in Egypt. This prompted me to start a new page and it can be seen here: Preserved Tanks in Egypt Meanwhile I have continued to work with Massimo Foti to track down vehicles around Switzerland, and we have managed to make great progress there: Preserved Tanks in Switzerland For example, here's the Panzerwagen 39 in the Thun SHP collection: Closer to home I have continued to work on tanks around the UK, and early results can be seen here: Preserved Tanks in Britain The highlight for me so far is the excellent Muckleburgh Collection - highly recommended! Muckleburgh Collection In addition I have made a large number of code improvements to the website, including listing tanks previously seen at each collection, better formatting, information on factories, etc. I hope you like it. admin at 9:39 PM | (17) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Thursday, December 31, 2009 Preserved Tanks in Italy    A busy month - and two bits of good news: Firstly, with Massimo Foti, who made the major contribution to Preserved Tanks in Switzerland, I am currently working on Preserved Tanks in Italy. Although it is still a work-in-progress it is shaping up well so it's time to make it available for everyone: Preserved Tanks in Italy Keep an eye on it over the next few weeks as it is developing fast. Secondly, the site recently underwent a major upgrade. The most obvious changes are that photographs are now displayed at a much higher resolution when you click through to them, and also there is now a specific Profile page for each tank in the database that contains all the information for that tank in one place. As an example, here's the new Profile page for the Tiger II at Full mentioned in a previous blog: Swiss King Tiger More upgrades are planned for the new year. admin at 9:48 PM | (3) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Monday, November 30, 2009 Preserved Tanks in England    It has been a busy few months for me, which ironically means the blog went rather quiet. I am working on a number of new areas of the website. Collection visits have included the Isle of Wight Tank Museum and the Dinscott collection, as I am now actively working on Preserved Tanks in England. Here are some example links as a taster: Preserved Tanks In Lincolnshire Preserved Tanks In Wiltshire admin at 11:59 PM | (9) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Thursday, July 9, 2009 Preserved Tanks in Switzerland    I have been very fortunate to have permission to add to the website a large number of photo's from Massimo Foti of vehicles at the Thun and Full collections in Switzerland. I have combined these with information from my original work on Thun, and photographs I took there in 1984, to produce a new section of the website: Preserved Tanks in Switzerland For example, here's the King Tiger that was previously at Thun and is now being restored at Full: If you have any information on these vehicles, or any photographs of vehicles there that are currently without photographs, then please contact me (trevor-larkum at armourarchive.co.uk). In the meantime, enjoy! admin at 10:51 PM | (1) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Monday, May 25, 2009 Preserved Tanks In France    As I haven't blogged for a while it may look like things have gone quiet here - but the opposite is true. With the 65th anniversary of D-Day on the horizon, I have spent the last few months producing a Third Edition of Preserved Tanks In France. It has been quite a challenge, and has grown in size from the original 72 pages to a very substantial 154 pages. The aim has simply been to produce the best and most complete guide for visitors touring the D-Day battlefields, and further afield. It is now available to buy from here: Armour Archive Storefront That's as much hard sell as I'm going to do here. Go to that link for more information, or visit ArmourArchive. As ever, everything on PreservedTanks.com remains free, and the content of the new Third Edition of PTIF will be put online here as soon as I'm able. The first chapter, covering tanks on display around Normandy, is already taking shape - just look for a Normandy link. admin at 1:09 PM | (6) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Sunday, January 18, 2009 The Death of Jacques Littlefield    It is with regret we pass on the sad news of the death of Jacques Littlefield. He died a week ago after a battle with cancer. Many of us knew him as one of the great 'gentlemen' tank collectors; he had invested a lot of time, energy and money in putting together one of the biggest and best restored collections of tanks in the world. His funeral will take place on 2nd March at Stanford University. The work he started will continue through the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation he founded. admin at 2:03 PM | (0) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Tuesday, December 30, 2008 Kubinka page live    Regular visitors will have noticed that the big Russian tank museum at Kubinka is now online on this site: Kubinka This is a copy of the first chapter of the book Preserved Tanks in Russia, available from Armour Archive. Updates to it will be made available during 2009. Kubinka is a huge collection containing many unique and unusual Soviet prototypes, such as the four-tracked Obiekt 279: Do have a look around. admin at 11:51 AM | (5) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Sunday, November 23, 2008 Bovington Tank Museum    At the end of last month I was able to spend a day at the Bovington Tank Museum, and so catch up on the latest changes going on there. The new 'Tank Story' hall was looking to be nearly complete, although it doesn't open officially until early next year. The new tank display arena is already in use, and I saw a brief display of vehicles there (since it was school holidays) including a Chieftain Stillbrew getting a good run. I'll post full details with photo's as soon as I have it organised. admin at 1:30 PM | (2) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Wednesday, October 1, 2008 Solitary Vehicles in USA    I have put online the first two entries for tanks I visited during my USA trip, as follows: M42 Duster, Easton, Pennsylvania T-72, Rochester, New York Any comments and feedback would be appreciated. These entries give an idea of the format I will be aiming for eventually for all location entries. admin at 1:58 PM | (0) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Preserved Tanks in Norway    I'm currently on a trip to Norway, that's included a visit to its most well known military museum, the Forsvarsmuseet in the Akershus Fortress, Oslo. It has a number of tanks and other vehicles in its collection, though some are stored away from its Oslo premises. Shown here are an M24 Chaffee outside the museum, a view of the front entrance (with M48 and Leopard 1), and a Panzer I in a tableau inside. More details to follow. admin at 10:39 PM | (9) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Preserved Tanks in Canada    It turned out that Saturday (23rd), my last day in North America, was the most successful. It began with driving my hire car out of Toronto early in the morning, heading north. I first went to Barrie to see the Sherman at the Barrie Armoury: Then I drove west to the Canadian Force Base at Borden to see its famous military museum, and the tanks in the surrounding Worthington Park: It also has various tanks on display around the base, such as this T-72: There are many tanks in and around Borden; I'll cover them in various articles in the near future. The afternoon was less successful. I drove fast back south to Oshawa to try to get to the Military and Industrial Museum before it shut at 5pm. However, the roads in that region are not completely developed, and my satnav got very confused and got me lost (via various unmetalled roads). I got to the museum at one minute past five, so had to make do with photographing the vehicles outside, such as this Centurion: Finally I went hunting for a Sherman believed to be on display in Oshawa, but it wasn't at the expected address so at that point I finished up and headed for home. I flew back on Sunday, and am now at home in the UK planning my next trip (probably to Norway). admin at 11:49 PM | (4) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Sunday, August 24, 2008 Preserved Tanks in USA - New York State & Canada    Having had little luck getting to tanks in NYC, I did manage to get to one in New York state, at Rochester last Wednesday. This is a T-72 at a naval and marine corps center visited by taxi: I have since arrived in Canada and things have got better. Friday night (22nd) I hired a car and headed out into Toronto. While competing against failing light, I managed to visit two Shermans at the George Taylor Denison Armoury: and then another in York Cemetery: admin at 11:30 PM | (3) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Saturday, August 23, 2008 Preserved Tanks in USA - New England    The trip has gone pretty well so far - and last Saturday was the best day yet as I managed to spend the afternoon at the Military Museum of Southern New England in Connecticut: It has a number of interesting exhibits such as an MBT-70. I did full photographic walkarounds of all the tracked vehicles, and I'll post them here once I'm back in UK. admin at 5:21 AM | (1) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Monday, August 18, 2008 Preserved Tanks in USA - Philadelphia    I'm currently on a trip through the north east USA (and later on into Canada). The tank hunting has had mixed results so far - starting well in Philadelphia, but not going so well in New York. I tracked down an M42 Duster in Easton, PA and an M60 in Bath PA. The bad news is that I visited the USS Intrepid museum in Manhatten to see their Patton and T72 only to find the museum closed for refurbishment (with the Intrepid gone) and to learn it's not due to reopen until November. admin at 4:21 AM | (1) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Another Encounter    On a recent drive to Heathrow Airport I passed a curious shape on the back of a transporter - I couldn't resist getting a little closer to take some snaps. So a quiz - can you recognise it? Answer below. Of course, as it's a relatively new addition to the Royal Artillery's arsenal, it's likely this is a service vehicle and is therefore not going into PreservedTank.com's database any time soon. It is, of course, an M270 MLRS. admin at 1:48 PM | (0) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Saturday, July 12, 2008 Preserved German Tanks 2: Panther to Leopard 2    At long last, I'm pleased to announce that the second volume of PGT went live earlier this week - covering the late war German heavy tanks (Panther, Tiger, King Tiger, Maus, etc.) plus German conversions of Czech and French chassis, plus modern German tanks. The PreservedTanks.com database has grown to hold 339 tanks and 278 pictures. It has been a very busy period for me since my last blog, but a productive one. I went to the Duxford Military Vehicle show in June, and have since visited the Combined Services Museum and the Muckleburgh Collection. Full details and photographs to follow. admin at 10:10 PM | (0) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Sunday, May 11, 2008 Steam Rally    Yesterday I took time off from preserved tanks to visit the local Stoke Goldington Steam Rally with the family. Funnily enough, though there were no tanks there I still managed to spot some tracked vehicles and some armoured vehicles (though no tracked armoured vehicles)! For me the Saladin belonging to Branco Dragovic was undoubtedly the highlight. admin at 9:00 PM | (2) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink  Friday, April 25, 2008 An Interesting Encounter    Last Saturday (19th April) I was returning home late at night with my family when my daughter spotted an interesting load on a low loader, seemingly parked up for the night, at Toddington Services (this was on the M1 motorway in the south of England).    It was dark and raining hard but it was clearly a pair of Soviet armoured vehicles being transported north. The vehicle at the back appeared to be a BMP-1 infantry combat vehicle.    The vehicle at the front appeared to be a BRDM-2U amphibious scout car (command version).   The only other information I could glean was the likely source of these vehicles - the clue was a Czech Republic registration plate on the truck. Update 14 June: My thanks to palic at Com-Central.net for a more detailed identification of these vehicles; they are a BVP-1 (Czechoslovak-made BMP-1) and a 9K113/9P148 Mobile ATGM Launcher (with Konkurs ATGMs) on BRDM-2 chassis (NATO Code AT-5 Spandrel). admin at 11:45 PM | (1) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink