news New Acquisition: T72

Seventy years to the day after Polish and British Forces fought side by side at the Falaise Pocket in Normandy, The Tank Museum, and the Land Forces Museum, Poland made an historic swap of two Cold War era tanks, which thirty years ago would have faced each other on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain.

The Chieftain was the backbone of the British Royal Armoured Corps for nearly thirty years after its introduction in 1966. Its 120mm gun was considered the best of its kind in the world and its 120 mm armour made it a tremendously powerful weapons system. The T72 was introduced into the forces of the Former Soviet Union five years later in 1971, the T72M being manufactured in Poland. It was a formidable opponent, lighter than the Chieftain but with equally powerful armament.

The Chieftain Mark 11 has been gifted to the Land Forces Museum, Bydgoszcz, today where it will go on display to the public. In exchange the Tank Museum has received the T72 tank, which will form part of their active operational fleet. Visitors will now be able to see this impressive machine roaring round The Tank Museum arena during Tanks in Action display and at the Museum’s biggest event of the year, Tankfest.

Richard Smith, The Tank Museum Director, “We are delighted to have been given this fine example of a T72 (left); it will make an excellent addition to our tank displays and our collections, helping us complete our record of the Cold War.”

Mr Mirosław Giętkowski, Director of the Land Forces Museum in Bydgoszcz, “We are grateful to The Tank Museum in Bovington for the Chieftain tank. It will be the first of a new collection of NATO military vehicles. This exchange is one of the first in Poland and I hope that it will initiate a wider international cooperation between museums of a military profile."

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?45605-Chieftain-MBT-to-Poland

Andy

Great addition to the collection. Looks in superb condition outside, whats the engine and internals like?

Ah ha, and wifie has been saying that she has never been to Bydgoszcz!

Now, just need to check if they have any Zuk vans, she wouldn't be able to say no if there are...

trevor

My cousin spent 12 years in an Armoured Reg ....Chieftain driver for a lot of it .........as I recall ? ..I think he said our tanks would have to knock theirs out at a ratio of about 5 to 1 if the Russkies ever came over the border ......

I asked him "So.....could we do it ?"

and he said ..........."Honestly ? ...no ...not a chance "......

Not what I , nor anyone else in this country really wanted to hear back in those dark and cold days....thank christamighty it never came down to a square off is all I can say ............

Strange also to think that once again as with the Germans and their Tigers and Panthers and our lads in the Shermans and Churchills ??????........... the same situation as back in WW2 had reared it's head once again ....but this time it was our boys that were going to be swamped by 'inferior tanks' although they were in the 'superior vehicles'.........

and we all know how that ended don't we