Armor from Ft. Benning

[M40scoutsniper]

Here are some photos of just a few of the armor that is currently at Fort Benning in Georgia. The location where I took these is over on Sand Hill and seems to me that no one other than a few shoppe workers ever go inside. A shame really, because there are some very rare original machines in here. Another gentleman from this group asked to see the photos I had, so I decided to make a lil off topic post. Enjoy and if you have any questions or concerns lemme know. Once COVID-19 is over and Im no longer on lockdown I can scurry back on over and take more pics if anyone wants.

[TSMGguy]

Great photos! Thanks for the tour.

[M40scoutsniper]

Forgot one! There are 4 Panthers in total, 1 King Tiger, 1 Tiger 1, and lots more that I didnt photograph out in the fenced yard. There was also a new display put out in another warehouse that is devoted to US tank development. It is just up the road from Camp Rogers/ Ranger School. I have also heard rumors that Aberdeen will be sending some of their collection here to Ft. Benning. The Panthers that are here are a mix of early and late production. You can see the different road wheels, and can be seen with examples of narrow transport tracks and cross country combat tracks. If anyone is ever near Ft. Benning and needs an escort/guide just hit me up.

[Frank Iannamico]

Is that where all the Armor that was on display at Fort Knox went?

 

Aberdeen also had a lot of armor, but most of it was outside exposed to the elements, I thought at one time they had plans to build new builds to house everthing.

They also had a great small arms museum. As I recall a lot of there "stuff" went to Fort Lee, VA (?)

 

Great pictures BTW thanks for sharing, I visited Fort Benning when I was in Georgia researching my MAC book.

[GaryKeim]

Yes, thanks for the virtual tour. Great assortment of German examples, some in fairly good condition.

 

When I lived in SF, I toured the largest privately-held collection of armored vehicles on the planet (Portola Valley), and they were just finishing up restoring a Panther that was pulled from a lake, in Poland I think. Apparently that was a common thing to do instead of destroying a broken down tank.

 

Unfortunately the gentlemen succumbed to cancer about a year later and his collection was distributed to many museums around the country.

 

Edit:

Littlefield:

Edited April 24, 2020 by GaryKeim

[Robert Henley]

Great photos. I lived there in or around 1965. My Dad was stationed there.

 

Robert

[jpw43]

Is that where all the Armor that was on display at Fort Knox went?

 

Aberdeen also had a lot of armor, but most of it was outside exposed to the elements, I thought at one time they had plans to build new builds to house everthing.

They also had a great small arms museum. As I recall a lot of there "stuff" went to Fort Lee, VA (?)

 

Great pictures BTW thanks for sharing, I visited Fort Benning when I was in Georgia researching my MAC book.

I'm pretty sure that's all from the Patton Museum at Knox.

Damn shame they all got moved there.

Knox is the Home of Armor, and always will be!

[Maxim]

Basic and AIT at Ft Knox in 1966. The original (1966) Patton Museum was in two large wooden buildings. One had armor, the other had artillery. The connecting area had many small arms. What memories these photos bring back!

[hntrdarren]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

[jpw43]

Basic and AIT at Ft Knox in 1966. The original (1966) Patton Museum was in two large wooden buildings. One had armor, the other had artillery. The connecting area had many small arms. What memories these photos bring back!

Back then you could actually get inside some of the tanks and manually traverse them!

[GaryKeim]

What is AIT?

[RoscoeTurner]

What is AIT?

 

​Advanced Individual Training, it follows after completion of Basic Training.

[RoscoeTurner]

 

Is that where all the Armor that was on display at Fort Knox went?

 

Aberdeen also had a lot of armor, but most of it was outside exposed to the elements, I thought at one time they had plans to build new builds to house everthing.

They also had a great small arms museum. As I recall a lot of there "stuff" went to Fort Lee, VA (?)

 

Great pictures BTW thanks for sharing, I visited Fort Benning when I was in Georgia researching my MAC book.

I'm pretty sure that's all from the Patton Museum at Knox.

Damn shame they all got moved there.

Knox is the Home of Armor, and always will be!

 

 

Another plus for Fort Knox was its more central location, Columbus, GA where Benning is located is out in the middle of no where on the way to no where. Every time I had to go to Benning I always thought the best view of it was seeing it fade in the distance on the way out.

[1gewehr]

I was down at the Infantry Museum in February. I had a nice long discussion with one of the volunteers. Some of the armor was in the original Infantry Museum collection. Most of it came down from Fort Knox when they moved the Armor Center to Benning. There are plans to build an Armor Museum to complement the Infantry Museum. As usual, funding is the problem. They need to raise a LOT of money. In the meantime, if you call down there, I was told that you can get permission to visit the Sand Hill facility. It would probably help if you were a member of the Armor Association and got M40scoutsniper to put in a good word as this is NOT normally open to the public.

 

Thanks for the photos!!

[RoscoeTurner]

I was down at the Infantry Museum in February. I had a nice long discussion with one of the volunteers. Some of the armor was in the original Infantry Museum collection. Most of it came down from Fort Knox when they moved the Armor Center to Benning. There are plans to build an Armor Museum to complement the Infantry Museum. As usual, funding is the problem. They need to raise a LOT of money. In the meantime, if you call down there, I was told that you can get permission to visit the Sand Hill facility. It would probably help if you were a member of the Armor Association and got M40scoutsniper to put in a good word as this is NOT normally open to the public.

 

Thanks for the photos!!

 

 

They jumped through their butts to move all that from Knox to Benning without a second thought as to where they were going to keep it. Much of the Knox collection that was originally housed inside sat out in the open for several years before being moved under some sort of shelter.

[MG08]

We used to hit the Patton Museum at fort Knox every time we went down there ( family farm over in Rineyville) and were bummed when they moved the armor out. Where did they put all the restored Vehicles ? They had a lot of running German armor. Odds are I will NOT get to Ft Benning . Had a lot of good times wandering around Ft Knox prior to 9/11.

[Petroleum 1]

Great photos thx!!

[junglewalk]

The Patton Museum lost over 300 armored vehicles and large guns when the Armor School was moved to Benning........Us old tankers in the area here around Knox did what we could to keep it from happening......There was lies and politics involved, and when you say Pentagon, run as fast as you can, away!.........Move was to save money, and it turned out costing 3 Xs as much......Was a terrible shame, and History channel still runs a program on the Gold Vault, and how well it is protected by thousands of troops and Tanks!!..

….Lucky if they have half a MP platoon to respond, most would be chicks with guns.....

[imageaudio]

If you ever find yourself across the pond after this pandemic ends,

there are 2 great Armour museums in the south of England. One is just north of London attached to the historic Duxford airfield. A good time to plan a trip is during one of their air shows and then stay an extra day to tour the Armour museum. Or, if you like to avoid the crowds, go during the off-season and plan to stay at the Duxford Lodge. Its located just a few minutes from the airfield and was used as the home of the American Eagle squadron prior to the US entry into WW2.

 

The other great museum is SW of London near Portsmouth at Bovington Camp. Theyve got about one of everything there and occasionally have Tank Day when they bring a few of the old war horses out and run them around the track.

 

PM me if you want more details. Ive made the trip twice and enjoyed it more the 2nd time.

 

You can also visit the Imperial War Museum when in London.

[imageaudio]

If you ever find yourself across the pond after this pandemic ends,

there are 2 great Armour museums in the south of England. One is just north of London attached to the historic Duxford airfield. A good time to plan a trip is during one of their air shows and then stay an extra day to tour the Armour museum. Or, if you like to avoid the crowds, go during the off-season and plan to stay at the Duxford Lodge. Its located just a few minutes from the airfield and was used as the home of the American Eagle squadron prior to the US entry into WW2. If you take your wife along she will feel like she is staying at Downton Abbey.

 

The other great museum is SW of London near Portsmouth at Bovington Camp. Theyve got about one of everything there and occasionally have Tank Day when they bring a few of the old war horses out and run them around the track.

 

PM me if you want more details. Ive made the trip twice and enjoyed it more the 2nd time.

 

You can also visit the Imperial War Museum when in London.

Edited June 30, 2020 by imageaudio

[hawksnest]

Basic training Ft. Knox August/September 1962. D-16-4. Pink elephants.

[Annihilator]

One of the great museums in Europe is the french tank museum in Saumur

[TSMGguy]

The Armor Center got moved to Benning? Heresy!