The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum is a privately owned museum in Smithfield,

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It is dedicated to

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

s, armoured vehicles and

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

from the Second World War and post war periods. It was officially opened in 2014. The museum has purchased a number of vehicles and items for display from overseas, including some items from the Littlefield Collection when it was downsized. It is the largest collection of military vehicles in Australia, and the only major collection of vehicles in Australia apart from the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Memorial and Army Tank Museum at

Puckapunyal Puckapunyal (more formally the Puckapunyal Military Area, but also known as the Puckapunyal Camp or Puckapunyal Army Base, and colloquially as "Pucka") is an Australian Army training facility and base 10 km west of Seymour, Victoria, Seym ...

. It is one of the largest private collections of artillery and AFVs in the world. The museum houses vehicles from a number of overseas manufacturers, including vehicles from Russia, Germany, Japan, the UK, the US and Czechoslovakia. PZ IV D

Collection

The museum houses artillery dating back to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and vehicles from World War II and the post war period. All up the collection owns more than 100 vehicles, with more than 190 exhibits on display. A number are also in various stages of restoration and transit. The collection features a range of armoured vehicles including German, US, Australian, British and Russian examples.

US vehicles

US vehicles in the collection include both an early model and later model

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

M47 Patton The M47 Patton was an American medium tank, a development of the M46 Patton mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton. It was the second American tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commande ...

M48 Patton The M48 Patton is an American first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun M48, armored, full-tracked, combat vehicle of the medium-gun tank class. It was designed as a replacement for ...

, M110 self-propelled gun, M3 Lee,

M3 Grant The M3 Lee, officially Medium Tank, M3, was an American medium tank used during World War II. The turret was produced in two different forms, one for US needs and one modified to British requirements to place the radio next to the commander. I ...

, Sherman M4A1, White half-track,

Staghound The Staghound, sometimes referred to as the English Staghound, is an extinct breed of scent hound from England. A pack hound, the breed was used to hunt red deer and became extinct in the 19th century when the last pack was sold. History The S ...

, M52 105mm SPG, LVT4 landing vehicle,

M114 M114 or M-114 may refer to: * M114 155 mm howitzer, a towed howitzer used by the United States Army * M114 armored fighting vehicle, a Vietnam War-era tracked armored fighting vehicle, used by the United States Army * M114 bomb, a U.S. 4 lb. biologi ...

Command and Reconnaissance vehicle, M577A1 Command Vehicle (ex Australian Army), M113A1 (ex Australian army), White M3 half-track, Staghound Anti-Aircraft variant, M3 Grant "local farm conversion",

M36 Jackson The M36 tank destroyer, formally 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage, M36, was an American tank destroyer used during World War II. The M36 combined the hull of the M10 tank destroyer, which used the M4 Sherman's reliable chassis and drivetrain combi ...

M7 Priest The 105 mm howitzer motor carriage M7 was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle produced during World War II. It was given the service name 105 mm self propelled, Priest by the British Army, due to the pulpit-like machine gun r ...

and

M41 Walker Bulldog The M41 Walker Bulldog, officially 76-mm gun tank M41, was an American light tank developed for armed reconnaissance purposes. It was produced by Cadillac between 1951 and 1954 and marketed successfully to the United States Army as a replaceme ...

Australian vehicles

The collection houses two rare

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring granit ...

tanks (AC1 and AC4),

Dingo The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...

scout car, Local Pattern 2 Carrier, 2 Pdr Attack Carrier Yeramba self-propelled 25-pounder, LP4 Armoured Car,

M113 The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier (APC) that was developed and produced by the FMC Corporation. The M113 was sent to United States Army Europe in 1961 to replace the mechanized infantry's M59 APCs. The M113 was first used ...

fire support vehicle, S1 (American) Scout car, a Rover MkII armoured car, and a 2-pounder Portee on a

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, several ships of the Prussian, Imperia ...

truck.

British vehicles

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

(two),

Chieftain A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...

, Humber Armoured Car,

Matilda II The Infantry Tank Mark II, better known as the Matilda, is a British infantry tank of the Second World War.Jentz, p. 11. The design began as the A12 specification in 1936, as a gun-armed counterpart to the first British infantry tank, the mac ...

, WWII British

artillery tractor An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked. Traction There are two m ...

Sherman Firefly The Sherman Firefly was a medium tank used by the United Kingdom and some armoured formations of other Allies in World War II, Allies in the Second World War. It was based on the US M4 Sherman but was fitted with the more powerful British cal ...

, Churchill Mk VII, Churchill Flail, Churchill AVRE,

Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

Valentine tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during World War II. More than 8,000 Valentines were produced in eleven marks, plus specialised variants, accounting for about a quarter of wartime Britis ...

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

, Ferret Mk 2, Fox,

FV433 Abbot SPG FV433, 105mm, Field Artillery, Self-Propelled "Abbot" is the self-propelled artillery, or more specifically self-propelled gun (SPG), variant of the British Army FV430 series of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs), using much of the chassis of th ...

Sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

, Bar Mine Layer,

with Mk3 No.1 Bulldozer blade. Museum Interior

Russian vehicles

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

artillery tractor,

BMP-1 The BMP-1 is a Soviet Union, Soviet Amphibious vehicle, amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle that has been in service from 1966 to the present. BMP stands for ''Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty 1'' (), meaning "infantry fighting vehicle, 1st ...

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2 ...

T-26 The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light ...

, T34/85,

T-60 The T-60 scout tank was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. During this period, 6,292 units were built. The tank was designed to replace the obsolete T-38 amphibious scout tank and saw action during World War II. The K ...

T-70 The T-70 is a light tank used by the Red Army during World War II, replacing both the T-60 scout tank for reconnaissance and the T-50 light infantry tank for infantry support. The T-80 light tank was a more advanced version of the T-70 with ...

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet Union, Soviet main battle tanks that entered production in 1973. The T-72 was a development based on the T-64 using thought and design of the previous Object 167M. About 25,000 T-72 tanks have been built, and refu ...

BTR-152 The BTR-152 is a six-wheeled Soviet armoured personnel carrier (APC) built on the chassis and drive train of a ZIS-151 utility truck. It entered service with a number of Warsaw Pact member states beginning in 1950, and formed the mainstay of Sovi ...

SU-76 The SU-76 ('' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 76'') was a Soviet light self-propelled gun used during and after World War II. The SU-76 was based on a lengthened version of the T-70 light tank chassis and armed with the ZIS-3 mod. 1942 76-mm divisional ...

SU-100 The SU-100 ( Russian: самоходная установка-100, СУ-100 romanized: '' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka-''100) is a Soviet tank destroyer armed with the D-10S 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. It was used extens ...

ISU-152 The ISU-152 (, meaning " IS tank based self-propelled installation with 152mm caliber gun") is a Soviet self-propelled gun developed and used during World War II. It was unofficially nicknamed ''Zveroboy'' (; "beast killer") in response to seve ...

2S7 Pion The 2S7 Pion ("peony") or 2S7M Malka is a Soviet self-propelled 203 mm cannon. "2S7" is its GRAU designation. More than 250 units were built; some sources say 500, others up to 1,000. They were distributed around the former Soviet states ...

203mm SPG,

BTR-60 The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet Union, Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs). It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR-152 and was seen in public for the first time in 1961. BTR (vehi ...

Command version, ATL Artillery Tractor,

SA-2 The S-75 (Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system. It is built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Following its first deployment in 1957 it became one of the ...

(Surface to Air Missile) and a

2S1 Gvozdika The 2S1 ''Gvozdika'' (, "Dianthus caryophyllus, Carnation") is a Soviet Self-propelled artillery, self-propelled howitzer introduced in 1972 and is in service in Russia and other countries . It is based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis, mount ...

and a rare

KV-1 The Kliment Voroshilov (KV; ) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour ...

under restoration.

German vehicles

Panzer 38(t) The 38(t), originally known as the ČKD, Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk (ČKD) LT vz. 38, was a tank designed during the 1930s, which saw extensive service during World War II. Developed in Czechoslovakia by ČKD, the type was adopted by Nazi G ...

, Jagdpanzer 38(t), Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf J, Pz.Kpfw. VI "Tiger" (plus a replica from the film "Fury"), Hummel,

Leopard 1 The Kampfpanzer Leopard, subsequently Leopard 1 following the introduction of the successive Leopard 2, is a main battle tank designed by Porsche and manufactured by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Krauss-Maffei in West Germany, first entering service ...

Kanonenjagdpanzer The Kanonenjagdpanzer (''KanJPz'') was a West German Cold War tank destroyer. Its design was very similar to that of the World War II Jagdpanzer IV. Name The Kanonenjagdpanzer is also known as the Jagdpanzer, Kanone 90mm ("tank destroyer, 90mm ...

, Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf D, Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf E, Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf G, Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf J,

Jagdpanther The (German: "hunting Panther"), Sd.Kfz. 173, was a tank destroyer (, a self-propelled anti-tank gun) built by Germany during World War II. The combined the 8.8 cm Pak 43 anti-tank gun, similar to the main gun of the Tiger II, with the armor ...

, Kettenkraftrad (

Sd.Kfz. 2 The () is a half-track motorcycle with a single front wheel, better known as the (), shortened to (pl. ). It was used by the military of Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Design The started its life as a light tractor for airborne ...

), Sd.Kfz. 250/3 Ausf A, Sd.Kfz. 250/3 Ausf B, Sd.Kfz 250/8,

Sturmgeschütz III The ''Sturmgeschütz'' III (StuG III) was an assault gun produced by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was the most-produced German Continuous track, fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle, and second-most produced German armored combat ve ...

Ausf A, Sturmhaubitze 42, Beobachtungpanzer Artillery Observation Vehicle, Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf D, Sd.Kfz. 251/9 Ausf C, Sd.Kfz. 251/22, Sd.Kfz. 11/1, Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf A "Panther",

Jagdpanzer IV The ''Jagdpanzer'' IV / Sd.Kfz. 162, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was devel ...

Sturmgeschütz IV The IV (StuG IV) (Sd.Kfz. 167) was a German assault gun variant of the Panzer IV used in the latter part of the Second World War. It was identical in role and concept to the highly successful StuG III assault gun variant of the Panzer III. Bo ...

and a

Raupenschlepper Ost ''Raupenschlepper Ost'' (German language, German: "Caterpillar Tractor East", more commonly abbreviated to RSO) was a fully Continuous track, tracked, lightweight vehicle used by the Wehrmacht in World War II. It was conceived in response to th ...

RSO mit Pak 40. A Sturmgeschütz III Ausf G is undergoing restoration and is not on display.

Other countries

Other vehicles from other countries include a Canadian Ram Kangaroo, Czech OT810, Canadian

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

, French

Panhard AML The Panhard AML (''automitrailleuse légère'', or "light armoured car") is an armoured car with reconnaissance capability. Designed by Panhard on a lightly armoured 4×4 chassis, it weighs an estimated 5.5 tonnes, and is thus suitable for airbo ...

, Ford Gun Tractor with Australian Limber and British 25 pdr, and Czech Praga with 30mm AA gun

Vehicles not on display

Additionally, there are a number of vehicles owned by the museum, but not currently on display. Mostly these are still being prepared in workshops, either on site or overseas, or they are in transit to the Museum. These include a Cromwell Medium Tank, a

Goliath tracked mine The Goliath tracked mine (German: ''Leichter Ladungsträger Goliath'', "Goliath Light Charge Carrier") was a series of two unmanned ground vehicles used by the German Army as disposable demolition vehicles during World War II. These were the el ...

and close to another 25 additional planned exhibits.

AusArmourfest

Every year, to celebrate the Museums birthday, the Museum hosts a three-day event called AusArmourfest. AusArmourfest gives people the opportunity to go for rides in some of the operational vehicles. In past years, some of the vehicles operated have included the Hetzer, T72, Panzer IV G, Leopard, Kettenkrad, and Sabre.

Donation of Australian Tank From Wargaming Inc

The museum hosts two rare Australian Cruiser tanks (two of six left in the world), an AC1 Sentinel and a hybrid AC1 with an AC3 turret, presented as an AC4. The AC1 Sentinel was purchased and given to the museum by Wargaming Inc, producer of the

World of Tanks ''World of Tanks'' (''WoT'') is an armoured warfare-themed multiplayer online game developed by Wargaming, featuring 20th century (1910s–1970s) era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play ...

tank game. The Sentinel was in the United States at the Littlefield Collection when that collection sold off many of its vehicles, and Wargaming Inc desired to purchase it and return it to its original home. As part of the purchase, it allowed access to the tank by Wargaming, so that they could study it and replicate it accurately for their game.

Shooting gallery and workshop

The Museum site also includes a 50-metre shooting gallery and a repair/restoration workshop where the vehicles which are in a state of deterioration can be restored. The workshop has a number of staff and can modify and build vehicles. As of 2015, the site has expanded to house more vehicles.

Tiger 1 replica

In 2016, the museum workshop undertook construction of a Tiger 1 replica. This utilised a highly accurate, partially constructed Tiger 1 that was originally constructed for the movie Fury, which in itself was an accurate replica of Tiger 131. The reconstruction utilised that upper portion of the Tiger, and also referenced original Tiger parts the museum had purchased to make the whole tank. The bottom chassis was strengthened to be able to run, the first time the museum had produced its own tank from scratch. The Tiger reproduction uses a Scania truck engine. The running gear is T55 (Track, support arms and torsion bars) M110 Road wheels and the drive/ steering component is from a T62, but it is outwardly a running, almost completely accurate Tiger 1, except for the front drive sprocket, which due to the T62 transfer case sits 200mm too high, and T55 Track. It was completed in November 2016, and is the only reproduction tank of this scale to be completed in Australia. This vehicle is no longer at the Museum as it was sold to another Australian collector. The Museum now houses a late production Tiger 1 in its collection.Jason Belgrave AAAM

References

External links

Australian Armour and Artillery Museum
– official site

– media report. Includes images. {{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Armour and Artillery Museum Military and war museums in Australia Tank museums Transport museums in Queensland Buildings and structures in Cairns