macnjam

All, Yesterday I had the opportunity to have a tour of the Armor collection which will be part of the proposed National Armor and Cavalry Museum @ Ft. Benning (near Columbus Georgia). This is a bit more than an hour south of Atlanta.

The National Armor and Cavalry Foundation is focused on building a museum to host a large collection of US and Foreign Armor. Much of it came from Aberdeen and Ft. Knox. It is all owned by the US Army. What is not known, and what I learned, is they also have a large collection of US armor, including a wide variety of Shermans and experimental tanks. They have the last surviving T-28 and many "one off" experimental models. Also everything from a S-tank to a British challenger. The good news is much of the collection is now indoors or has protection from rain. In my visit (yesterday) I saw 4 Panthers, a Tiger 1 under restoration and Cobra King which was the first tank into Bastogne. Here is a link to some pictures that give a small glimpse of the collection.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/130727...7650326442382/

Rick Young, who is the executive director, facilitated my tour. Rick is a retired Army Sgt Major and his career was with the M1 Abrams. He served in the Iraq twice and has a very impressive career I cannot adequately capture here. Rick's mission as executive director is to secure funding to build a museum by 2020. They have the land, what is needed is funding for building the museum, and we all need to help. Attached to this message is more information as to the museum and how you can help with a paver stone. I bought mine and encourage all of you to do what you can. So if you wish to contribute, or have a line to someone (or a business) that would be interested in helping please get that info to Rick.

Rick has offered to do more tours for groups. I plan to organize a visit in April with the local Atlanta tankers.

Pass the word! Lets support the museum!

Joe

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Max-U52

I was droolin' before I even got to the T-26, and by the time I got to the cutaway KT I had to wipe the nose prints off the monitor and change the slobber soaked keyboard because it blew up! Wow. This one is definitely worth our support. If I can kick five bucks to wikipedia I'm sure I can scrape up a little something for this project. I haven't gotten that far yet, but I will look at the price of pavers, though. I tend to prefer to just make an anonymous gift, especially if they offer to give me a hat or t-shirt or something for a donation. Save that t-shirt money for better stuff, ya know? Not that this museum is doing that, I haven't looked at donation info yet, but I think you guys know what I mean.

Max-U52

OK, perfect example - I can't commit to an annual donation and I don't need decals or certificates. Can I just send a few bucks (I'm a poor boy so 20 or 25 will be the tiny bit I can do, but I know every penny helps) to the foundation? If I was in a club I might take up a collection. Just two or three bucks from every guy in a club can add up quick.

macnjam

Do what you can. Just getting the word out to enthusiasts is a step forward!

Green Amphibian

Great pictures! I will have to go when they are up and running if I still can.

Herman

cleong

Are these the exhibits that once sat in the open on the Aberdeen Proving Grounds? Three Panthers side by side...... damn.

Max-U52

I could ask a zillion questions about the stuff in those photos. So much more to learn. If you had told me five years ago I'd be taking on so much new education (not even counting tanks there's motors, electronics, resin casting, scale buildings, and the list goes on and on) and loving it I'd have said you were nuts. I LOVE THIS HOBBY!!!

sassgrunt

My Feedback: (1)

Thank you for posting the pictures. I am surprised to see the Panther II. I figured that since it had been in the indoor museum at Ft. Knox, it would have remained there.

macnjam

Yes, the three panthers caught me off guard. One is a panther II hull with a panther turret. It was just repainted.. This was at Ft Knox, And they have a fourth inside!

1sgt

Joe,
Let me know when the next tour may be and if you could squeeze in a couple more folks.

Thanks

Jim

macnjam

It will most likely be a friday in April. I will post info here once we confirm that date.

ausf

Wasn't that cutaway Tiger I from Ft Knox?

It always amazes me to when I see how thick the armor was.

I recognize the collapsed suspension of the JT from Aberdeen, why is that jewel still outside?

Great opportunity and pics, thanks for posting them.

macnjam

The cutaway at fort knox is a Tiger II and it is now in the same building as the Tiger 1. I had never seen the cutaway tiger 1 so not sure where that came from....

Shark27

Here is a link about surviving panzers he lists information about the cutaway Tiger 1.
When Bob (the Commander), Dennis and I were in Europe on our tour of the Armor museums in 2012 someone mentioned that the That Tiger 1 was being shipped back to the US after being in Germany and England for a long while.
The story goes that the US acquired the Tiger 1 during the war, and Aberdeen did the cutaway for training purposes (like the Tiger II that ended up at Ft. Knox). Here is a fairly common color picture of the two of them side by side at Aberdeen. We apparently we shipped it back to Germany at some point during the cold war era, it originally was to be restored by one of the German Museums, but never was.

Steve

manchu9inf

great pics!! And thanks for sharing!!

MAUS45

Tiger II and Tiger I were both, at one time, in Aberdeen. The Tiger II was traded to Ft. Knox for a MBT 70 and was restored cosmetically. The Tiger I was sent to Germany on loan to be restored cosmetically and had a slow trip home via the Wheatcroft group, but thank God and Mr. Wheatcroft it is back on American soil. I have attached photos of both the Tiger I and II at Aberdeen. One is of the Tiger II while the tanks were still displayed indoors at Aberdeen. The is also one of the Tiger I and II next to each other at Aberdeen. I included one of the Tiger II at Fort Knox after it was restored. Also photos of the Tiger I while it was in Germany on display after it's restoration indoors.

MAUS45

Ditto on the info for the possible tour in April. I am in Nashville TN and would make the trip down to GA to see these tanks again. I made several trips to Ft. Knox when it was still up and running. The interesting thing about Ft. Knox is that they were in the process of trying to restore as many tanks as they could to running order. Had volunteers and military help doing this. Hope they do the same at Ft. Benning. I know a building is the first priority, but some runners would be so cool!!!

Augustus1967

Very Cool Indeed!


Butt... I have a question concerning the King Tiger...
Please correct my Bier Addled Brain if need be.

Were there Any DAK King Tigers?
I've seen a few Scale KT's in DAK colors and now Here is The Real Deal in DAK colors...
Yet I haven't run across any reference to DAK KT's in my many Reference books yet.
though I still have much to Read/Learn.

I am Confuse-Ed...

Thank Y'all,

-gus

cleong

The simple answer is no - the DAK ceased to exist by mid-May 1943, while the King Tiger only entered service in 1944.

TheBennyB

Your just seeing what Aberdeen's solution was for outdoor storage, buckets of primer. You can see the same on the brummbar behind and panther next to it.

Panther G

Is that the only T-28 there is left. There where only a couple to start with weren't there?

Augustus1967

Thank Y'all,

I figured as much...

Funny thing is I have also seen a Few 1/16 Scale, Tamiya, HL-Toro Painted as and Called DAK...
One recent example was a fixer upper Tamiya on FleaBay...

Thanks Again!

-gus