the_shadock Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 this is a photo of Leloup's (Falaise) Panther being transferred to a restoration facility (Paratrooper vehicles company). After the restoration, it will be placed in a new museum that will open in Omaha Beach sector (the Falaise museum will merge with another to open a bigger museum with plenty of vehicles). P-O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex van de Wetering Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Pierre-Olivier, Thanks for the update. Good to hear that the Panther will be restored (it's ex-Saumur isn't it?) by Paratrooper vehicles. Do you have more info about that new museum? I have heard rumours about this before; it will certainly be a museum to go to, but on the other hand I think it's a pity that some Falaise vehicles will be torn from their historic location. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_shadock Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Alex, The new museum will be located at Colleville sur Mer and will open in June 2013. You could read an article here, but it's in French : http://www.larenaissance-lebessin.fr/2012/10/21/omaha-overlord-museum-sort-de-terre-a-colleville-sur-mer/ It says that the new museum will display about 30 vehicles, the heavier weighting 48 tons (probably the Panther), and there will also be a landing craft. The building will be 1300 m². P-O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmac Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 (edited) There seems to be a large proportion of surviving Panthers and current projects that originated from Saumur, I presume that the museum collected them from the French military.... They don't all look to be range targets (the KW ones look like they have been targets or used for testing armour) what is the story behind all the Panthers from France? Edited January 27, 2013 by ajmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford 369 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 would this new museum be the place I passed last year with a pair of water buffaloes standing outside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter4456 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 what is the story behind all the Panthers from France? I could be completely wrong, but I'm sure I read somewhere that the French Army had an armoured regiment, equipped with Panthers, after the war. Anyone know if this is true or not?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex van de Wetering Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Pierre-Olivier, Thanks for the extra information about the museum...Sounds like a good reason to go to Normandy again! France did indeed operate a bunch of Panther tanks post ww2 and I believe they even built a French prototype tank with a Panther Maybach post-war. Love to hear more about this subject and the number of Panthers they had. Years ago I heard rumours that part of the Bayeux museum material, when it was till packed with stuff, was going to be displayed in a different museum. Sorry for deviating in this post about Leloups Panther, but could it be that we will find some of the old Bayeux vehicles in the new museum??? Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_shadock Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 (edited) Alex, French websites don't give any figure about how many Panther tanks were operated by French forces after 1945. However, the article about the Panther tank on Wikipedia says that "After the war, France was able to recover enough operable vehicles and components to equip the French Army's 503e Régiment de Chars de Combat with a force of fifty Panthers." I've not heard anything about the Bayeux museum recently... it was reorganized in 2006 and I visited it in 2007... what do you call the "old Bayeux vehicles"? P-O Edited January 28, 2013 by the_shadock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex van de Wetering Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 P-O, I visited the Bayeux museum a number of times years ago and than once after it was reorganised. It used to be packed with vehicles, uniforms, items and historical pictures. After the reorganisation a lot of material has disappeared, including vehicles like the Morris PU, Caterpillar Dozer, Skoda truck and Daimler Dingo. From rumours I understand that the museum staff had some disagreements with the owner of a lot of the material, which led to the reorganisation. I remember seeing the Morris PU again a few years ago in the VeMil magazine....part of a small private collection in Normandy. Back to the subject...I hope to see pics of the Panther restoration. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_shadock Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Back to the subject...I hope to see pics of the Panther restoration. Alex and so do I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_bish Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 P-O, I visited the Bayeux museum a number of times years ago and than once after it was reorganised. It used to be packed with vehicles, uniforms, items and historical pictures. After the reorganisation a lot of material has disappeared, including vehicles like the Morris PU, Caterpillar Dozer, Skoda truck and Daimler Dingo. From rumours I understand that the museum staff had some disagreements with the owner of a lot of the material, which led to the reorganisation. I remember seeing the Morris PU again a few years ago in the VeMil magazine....part of a small private collection in Normandy. Back to the subject...I hope to see pics of the Panther restoration. Alex I was there in 2011 and there was a Cat Dozer, Sexton, towed quad, PAK40, towed generator (in a Ben Hur I think), 25 pounder, GMC and Sherman. This is what I have photos of and sure there was a lot more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme G Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 The vehicles from the Bayeux museum are now in the DDay academy, the owner of the vehicles is Dr J.P Benamou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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