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Pacific Historian
Canadian War Museum puts restored WW2 German tank on display
WarMuseum.ca - Canadian War Museum, Canada's national museum of military history
OTTAWA - The Canadian War Museum has completed a two-year restoration of a Second World War-era German Panzer V tank.
"This is possibly the largest restoration project ever undertaken by the museum," said museum director general Mark O'Neill.
The tank, on display in the LeBreton Gallery, helps visitors appreciate some of the obstacles the Allies faced in liberating Europe, the museum said in a news release.
Panthers, as the Panzer V tanks were known, were among the largest tanks produced in quantity during the war. They were designed to combat the effective Soviet T-34 tanks that Germany encountered after the invasion of Russia in June 1941.
By war's end, nearly 6,000 Panthers had been deployed on all fronts.
As part of the restoration, the exterior surfaces were cleaned and treated with a "zimmerit" paste created from a Second World War recipe. Zimmerit was applied during the war to tank surfaces to help defeat magnetic anti-tank mines.
After it was captured during the war, the tank was shipped to CFB Borden in Ontario and displayed there until it was donated to the museum in 2005.
Panthers and T-34s are widely considered to have been the best tanks of the war, the museum said, noting it also has a T-34 on display.
WarMuseum.ca - Canadian War Museum, Canada's national museum of military history
OTTAWA - The Canadian War Museum has completed a two-year restoration of a Second World War-era German Panzer V tank.
"This is possibly the largest restoration project ever undertaken by the museum," said museum director general Mark O'Neill.
The tank, on display in the LeBreton Gallery, helps visitors appreciate some of the obstacles the Allies faced in liberating Europe, the museum said in a news release.
Panthers, as the Panzer V tanks were known, were among the largest tanks produced in quantity during the war. They were designed to combat the effective Soviet T-34 tanks that Germany encountered after the invasion of Russia in June 1941.
By war's end, nearly 6,000 Panthers had been deployed on all fronts.
As part of the restoration, the exterior surfaces were cleaned and treated with a "zimmerit" paste created from a Second World War recipe. Zimmerit was applied during the war to tank surfaces to help defeat magnetic anti-tank mines.
After it was captured during the war, the tank was shipped to CFB Borden in Ontario and displayed there until it was donated to the museum in 2005.
Panthers and T-34s are widely considered to have been the best tanks of the war, the museum said, noting it also has a T-34 on display.
