Museums with Axis equipment

[DetectorCollector]

http://www.oorlogsmuseum.nl

Site of the Dutch War Museum with adress and other information. The museum is the Battle of Overloon still kept intact as it was left behind in 1944 with indoor and outdoor displays. Indoor also other vehicles, aircraft, weapons and civilian stuff.

Bart

[Krasnaya Zvezda]

Kubinka Tank museum, very close to Moscow. With one of the largest collection of armored vehicles in the world. Excellent.


http://www.tankmuseum.ru/index_e.html

Non Russian citizens can not visit the museum with the Russian citizens or at their liberty. They have to be in a group, with their guide. Info for visitors

http://www.tankmuseum.ru/inf.html


Just a quote:

WARNING

* Any attempts of the citizens of NO Russian Federation (including former-USSR) to visit museum with the Russian visitors could be qualified as the UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS. The violator could be accused in the ESPIONAGE. In all halls there're the video-camera control and the FSB (former KGB) officials. Any attempts to leave your travel agent representative and to visit the next military instantiation area could be qualified as the unauthorized access too.

** Please, read carefully this information for the model makers and journalists.

The Russian military officials DO NOT LIKE the model makers (the regular violators of the museum rules)

Russian tank museum rules let make the USUAL NON-PROFESSIONAL photo- or VIDEO camera with YOU and the VEHICLE as the background ONLY.

Camera is qualified as PROFESSIONAL with any glass (non-plastic) lens more that 10 mm diameter. Send us the model and photo of your camera to check one [email protected]

Usage the non-authorized or non-specializing travel agency for the tank museum tour could be the reason why you can not visit the military museum

Any attempt to HIDE your model maker photo- (video-) aim could be the reason of your withdraw from your current and other military museums

[Krasnaya Zvezda]

Also, Central Armed Forces Museum

http://www.armymuseum.ru/index.html


This site here explains the available tours of various military museums available in Russia. With some photographs

http://www.voentour.com/military/museums.shtml

[Dan W.]

They see to be extremely wary of model tank types who seemingly spy at the Kubinka Tank museum, it sounds kind of funny, really, that warning you posted, they obviously don't go for a telephoto lens in that museum.

They won't even let you take pictures in alot of museums, like The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

USHMM Museum

[Landser]

One museum I did not see listed on German museums was the Peenemünde
Museum.

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/Hi ... PEENEMUNDE

I think this is one of the most interesting museums on WWII.
It was fascinating to see what went on there and how things were accomplished.It was more fun then Cape Canaveral.
Also they have a USSR Juliet Class rocketlauncher submarine from 1963 on display. I will try to go back when I have more then 1 day to visit.

[Marcus]

The link appears to be broken.

/Marcus

[Dan W.]

Some news regarding the D-Day museum:

The leadership and staff of The National D-Day Museum mourn the devastating losses suffered by our families, friends, and neighbors in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We pledge ourselves to extend every effort to join with all who will heal and rebuild our community and our region. The very essence of our educational mission always has been to convey hope and human resolve. Today those values remain vital.

We know that education, culture, and tourism have crucial importance to the rebuilding of New Orleans. Therefore, we intend to reopen our Museum to the public as soon as it is safe and feasible to do so. We are relieved to report that the losses to our facility and collections were limited, but the restoration will require much work.

As we rebuild, we also reaffirm our commitment to continue and complete the expansion of our campus and its programs as planned. This effort, begun last year, will enlarge and enhance our Museum in keeping with its designation by the United States Congress as America’s National World War II Museum.

Our Museum portrays the great American Spirit that united our people in World War II. We must exhibit the same spirit of courage, initiative, sacrifice and ingenuity that characterized our citizens in those years of national crisis.

Please check this web site regularly for news of the Museum.

http://www.ddaymuseum.org/about/katrina.html

[karltrowitz]

I highly reccommend the Automuseum at Bad Oeynhausen (West of Hannover) in Germany. It contains everything technical from printing presses and typewriters to MiG23's and Trabants! This also includes a Famo, Schwimmwagen, Kettenkrad, StugIIIB, JU88, P47 etc etc, as well as lots of other WW2 related items.

[TRose]

The Island of Corrigidor in the Philippines has a very nice museum with both Japanese and American equipment. Also scattered over the Island are some of the large guns used to defend the island many which are still in good shape

[henryk]

Come visit the museum of Canada’s oldest regular infantry regiment, located in beautiful London, Ontario. Discover why The RCR Museum is one of Canada’s finest regimental museums! (No large equipment displays).
http://www.rcrmuseum.ca/index.html
The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum, Wolseley Barracks 750 Elizabeth St. London, ON
519-660-5102 [email protected]

The Museum has five objectives:
To serve as a training medium to teach regimental history;
To preserve regimental history through the collection of documents, pictures, books, and artifacts with emphasis on The RCR;
To serve as a place of military interest for the public and Canadian Forces personnel;
To provide research facilities for the study of Canadian military history as represented by the South-Western Ontario Regiments and the accumulated collections; and
To display and illustrate in an appropriate manner the dress, weapons, and customs of the Canadian military heritage dating from 1883.
The Royal Canadian Regiment is Canada's senior Regular Force Infantry Regiment. Formed in 1883, it has garrisoned communities from Halifax to Victoria and has served in virtually every military campaign undertaken by the country. The active or serving component of the Regiment consists of:
Regimental Headquarters and 4th Battalion at Wolseley Barracks in London, Ontario
1st and 3rd Battalions at Victoria and Foulkes Barracks in Petawawa, Ontario
2nd Battalion at Gregg Barracks in Gagetown, New Brunswick
Formed on 1883 to instruct the Canadian Militia. It saw action during the campaign in North-West Canada in 1885 where it took part in the suppression of the rebellion at Batoche and Cut Knife Creek. In 1898, the Regiment provided part of the force sent to police the Yukon Territory during the Gold Rush.
It participated in the Boer War: Paardeberg and South Africa 1899-1900
World War I: The Regiment was in the trenches at Ploegstreet, France, as part of the 1st Canadian Corps.
World War II: Sicily, Reggio de Calabria, Ortona, Hitler Line, Gothic Line, Netherlands, Belgium.
The Korean War
Post Korean War: NATO, Germany, Cyprus, AmerInd Incidents (Akwesasne, Ontario, Oka and Kahnawake, Quebec), Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, UN-Yugoslavia.
.

[henryk]

Canada's Radar Museum
At the beginning of WWII, the RCAF was tasked, as a major role for the Allies, to carry out training of radar personnel and to set up, operate and maintain radar sites. A school was set up at Clinton, Ontario, for this purpose. School logs show the training of American military personnel prir to the entry into the war in 1941.
The Secrets Of Radar Museum in London, Ontario was set up by staff from Clinton, and radar personnel who operated overseas. It includes many pieces of hardware. Picture boards show how radar works, the evolution of radar, the evolution of radar countermeasures, radar sites operated by the BRCAF and others. It is interesting to note the exponential technology growth: higher frequencies for increased accuracy, improved antennas, techniques for reduction of radar cross section. In addition to the UK and, later Western Europe, The RCAF operated dozens of sites in both the Mediterranean Theater and the Pacific Theater. Many of the guides are WWII radar personnel, with interesting stories and anecdotes of their careers.
The Secrets of Radar Museum
http://www.secretsofradar.com/index.html
This museum is dedicated to preserving the experiences, stories, and histories of the men and women who helped build, develop, operate, maintain and defend Canadian RADAR, here in Canada, and abroad.
Hours of operation: 10am to 2pm Every Saturday, except major holidays. Other times by special arrangement.
Location: The Secrets of Radar Museum is located just off the Parkwood Hospital grounds in south London, Ontario.
http://www.rcafmuseum.on.ca/ww2.htm

Thousands of RCAF men and women served in the air and on the ground with the RAF throughout the world - among them a group whose existence was one of the best kept secrets of the war - radar mechanics.
The critical need for radar mechanics to maintain and service vital radar equipment for the Royal Air Force and Allied Forces was emphasized by the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom when he stated in 1941 " . . . R.D.F. radar technicians had the highest priority of all requests for manpower from the United Kingdom." (The term R.D.F. is a contraction of Radio Direction Finding ; "radar" was coined later from Radio Detection And Ranging,- radio or radar technicians were eventually referred to as "radar mechanics.")
Canada responded by agreeing to build a radar training school at Clinton, Ontario for the RAF. Over 6000 radar mechanics were trained on highly secret radar equipment at #31 RAF Radar School during WWII. Initial training in radio techniques was provided by Universities and Technical Schools across Canada. Those who passed a tough exam completed their radar training at Clinton. Following a brief leave in Canada, they were sent overseas to the United Kingdom where they were attached to the Royal Air Force for assignment to any of the Allied Forces where radar skills were required. The importance of the skills of radar mechanics was emphasized by Winston Churchill, when he said in 1943 that "Radio Mechanics were largely responsible for the United Kingdom victory over the massed German air fleets in 1940." and also in this quote from Robert Buderi book, The Invention That Changed the World - "The atomic bomb only ended the war. Radar won it."

The Museum is located in the Environmentally Sensitive Area: "Westminster Ponds". In the Area are four large ponds created at the same time as the Great Lake with the retreat of the glaciers north. Hiking trails are spread throughout for the enjoyment of the area.

[Dan W.]

A somewhat strange, but interesting museum has just made it to the top of my list of places to visit, not only for what is there but because it seems to be on the 'endangered' list. Walter Reed is on the chopping block and being closed (moved to Bethesda, MD.), and the museum's status is in limbo, I hope to visit there this summer.

http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum

It was founded in 1862 as the Army Medical Museum. It contains, among other medical oddities, the right leg of Union Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, lost to a Confederate cannonball at Gettysburg, PA. (Sickles would visit his leg on display on the anniv. of Gettyburg.)

[Bruno COLLIN]

Two more from France :
Musée de l'Automobile in La Réole (70 km East of Bordeaux), 19 Av Gabriel Chaigne 33190 LA REOLE. Cars, agricultural tractors AND some tanks, trucks and even planes. A small presentation of WWII in South-West of France.

Musée de la poche de Royan in Le Gua (100 km North West of Bordeaux), 119 rue Samuel Champlain 17600 LE GUA. A nice 88 outside and some German AFV inside, with weapons and artillery guns.

Small museums but worth the visit.

[Dan W.]

If vacationing in Hawaii, you must check out the Army Museum located right on Waikiki Beach. It is a great museum profiling the history of Hawaii as a military base, from before the U.S. was even founded, to when Battery Randolph was built prior to WWI, and of course to Pearl Harbor and our introduction to WWII, through Korea and Vietnam. They had a cool exhibit on a local Hawaiian named Gen. Eric Shineski.

Here is a link to the museum:

http://www.hiarmymuseumsoc.org/museum/index.html






Captured weapons

North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun

Norden bombsight



[political remarks removed by administrator]

[Dan W.]

USNA Museum

If ever near the beautiful town of Annapolis you must find a way to visit the Naval Academy museum located on these grounds. (It was very simple to gain access there in 2003)

There is an excellent collection of many artifacts, not only from WWII in the Pacific but also from the Revolutionary War thru the Civil War. The best collection is on WWII, and includes many items from Europe that were donated to the museum.

I've included some pictures of various exhibits: