Swiss Tank Museum

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John Clarke
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Swiss Tank Museum

Post by John Clarke »

Hi all,
I'm sure most of you know of the Swiss Tank Museum at Thun (Tune). On a resent visit. I had hoped too see the KT they have, but it was not present and believe they are trying to overhaul it to get it to run, borrowing parts from the Panther or Jagd Panther they have. To visit the museum you have to first hand over your passport and then wait for a soldier to escort you round the exibits. The squadies seem to have little interest in the museum pieces and I was reluctant to try and climb over the heavy metal to get better pictures of the decks with all the locals carrying weapons. Still your free to take pictures of the vehicles and there are quite a few to drool over, getting a few over the head shots. Starting from pre WW2 to early Cold war exibits and some Swiss made tanks are also present. The day was hot, no refresment were available and picnicking is not probably the done thing here, but it was well worth a visit.
Switzerland is an expensive place to visit and the beer was not cheap.
Hope you like the pictures and the KT that was'nt there. (picture from web site)
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Oh Man, I only ride em I don't know what makes them work,
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Robert E Morey
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Post by Robert E Morey »

John,
Thanks for the nice pictures. Looks like a nice museum, despite the soldiers packing heat!

Is it me, or does the Panther mantlet look totally fake? Nice P4 photo though.

Best regards, Bob

Marcel de Groene
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Post by Marcel de Groene »

Robert E Morey wrote:John,


Is it me, or does the Panther mantlet look totally fake? Nice P4 photo though.

Best regards, Bob
Robert, I had the same thoughts. Looks absolutly fake. Strange they have such a big collection of WW2 tanks..., since they were neutral.
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John Clarke
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missing and fake Panther bits

Post by John Clarke »

Apparently after the war the Swiss imported a few tanks to analyse, so they could design and build their own tanks which they did. Some were on show at the museum together with other tanks they brought for their defense, Centurions being brought in numbers moving on to Pattons Leopards and the current Leo 2 which were rolling around the camp at the time I was there. I do have one sneaky shot of one but experience has told me not to point cameras at the military as they don't like it up them Mr Mannering.
The Panther is missing a lot of bits, hatches and deck plates etc but the Jagd Panther looks pretty much intact. I suppose like the British they wanted to know what made them tick!
The Swiss youth have to do national service, but a little like the TA as they can fit it in round their jobs in some cases. Pretty cool to have the oppertunity to drive a Leo 2 around at the weekends.
While I was there I noticed big gun emplacements around the lake, It turns out the Swiss had been preparing for a Nazi invasion so I was told.
Oh Man, I only ride em I don't know what makes them work,
Definatley an Anti-Social type

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