The Tank Museum

The experimental Ansaldo Carro da 9t was the result of a collaboration between the Italian Ansaldo company and William Foster and Co., the same minds behind TOG II.

Development began in 1929, but it wouldn’t be until 1937 that the Carro da 9t would be finished and its First World War era design was long outdated by then.

It never saw service in the Italian army, and this design summarises Italian struggles with rearming in the inter-war period, with an insufficient budget and underdeveloped industrial power.

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The Tank Museum

The US Air Force’s Mobile Weapon System test-bed (photographed here in 1984) wasn’t a front-line system, instead it was intended for the defence of airbases and other facilities and would have been operated by the Air Force Security Police.

It was composed of a 30mm GAU-13 cannon and Stinger missiles fitted to a turret mounted on a LAV-25 vehicle. The GAU-13 was a four barrelled version of the GAU-8 Avenger cannon fitted to the A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft.

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The Tank Museum

The Valentine was the most produced British tank of the Second World War.

It has been unfairly forgotten, in many ways, but it was a very reliable tank and gave good service in North Africa. Of the 8317 built of all variants, 7260 were turreted tanks. Half were sent to the Soviet Union, the rest retained by Britain. Canadian forces used it extensively for training, and a small number were supplied to New Zealand.

We currently have four Valentines in our collection – a Mark I, a Mark IX, a Mark I Scissors Bridgelayer, and an Archer.

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The Tank Museum

See one tiny tank, and suddenly life is back on track...

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The Tank Museum

It is well known that the Sherman tanks during WW2 served as test beds for different variants and uses. But did you know about the Demolition Tank T31?

It might look like something out of a video game, but this prototype was very real – here it is at Aberdeen Proving Ground in 1945.

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The Tank Museum

Caption this!

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The Tank Museum

The M16 Multiple Gun Carriage was designed from the M3 which entered service in 1941 to provide a fast moving anti-aircraft deterrent against low flying enemy planes.

It resembles the M15 and M15A1 Gun Motor Carriage, but the gun on the back of this vehicle is a Maxson turret with a M45D Quadmount with four .50 calibre M2HB machine guns with a full 360° rotation. There was however no armour to protect the gunner on the M16; this was later updated on the M16A.

The half-track had a good off road performance and could accompany tanks into battle. The vehicle had been criticised as being lightly armoured however, especially overhead; this was not addressed throughout The Second World War due to the added weight decreasing mobility.

The Tank Museum version is the M16 without the ‘batwing’ armour plates for the anti-aircraft gun and was used by the French Army and acquired in July 1992.

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The Tank Museum

The A7V was the first tank that Germany ever produced. Weighing 32 tons, and with a crew of 18 men - it was almost the size of a small house - and was nicknamed by the British the ‘moving fortress’

Only one example remains - chassis number 506 - nicknamed 'Mephisto' - which was captured by Australian infantry and British tanks in July 1918. It was quickly put on a ship to Australia.

This photograph shows it being unloaded in Brisbane. The crane had to be specially constructed. Mephisto now resides in the Queensland museum.

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The Tank Museum

The M14/41 was a successor to the lighter and slower M13/40, fitted with a more powerful and reliable engine. The first were built in August 1941 and were used until the end of fighting in North Africa. Even when they were first used, the M14/41’s firepower and armour were outdated against newer Allied tanks.

Our vehicle has serial number 4867, and was sent to North Africa in July 1942. It is believed to have been abandoned and captured soon afterwards. A British inspection did not find any external damage – and it came to The Tank Museum in 1951.

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The Tank Museum

Three generations of Japanese tanks on manoeuvres.

Back left is the Type 61, which was developed in the late 1950s. In front is the Type 74, in production from that year but not widely issued until the 1980s. Back right is the Type 90, which entered service in 1990.

The Type 61 was retired in 2000, although most were gone by 1995, which helps narrow down the date.

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