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Cavalry Tank Museum was established by the Armored Corps Centre and School, Ahmednagar in February 1994. It is the only museum of its kind in Asia and houses about 50 exhibits of vintage armored fighting vehicles.
The oldest exhibit is the silver Ghost Rolls Royce armored car. The older exhibits date to First World War vintage and served on the battlefields of Cambrian Somme and Flanders. A large number of vehicles are from Second World War period. Amongst the exhibits are British Valentine, Japanese type 95 HA-GO and Tyand-97 Chi- Ha, Sherman Crab flail tank, M-47 Patton Centurion Mark ll, German Panzer and pride of India Vijayanta. In the Memory hill house souvenirs of all regiments of the Armored Corps are kept.
The evolution and history of tanks unfolds as one takes the beautiful entrance with trees on both sides. Descriptive boards inform the visitor about each tank as one moves around. The armoured corps was incepted during World War I to replace horse cavalry with armoured vehicles for more mobility of the battlefield to overcome the strategic trench warfare.
Many of the tanks captured during World War II are on display. These are mainly Japanese and German tanks. Pakistani tanks which took part in India- Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971 are also exhibited.
Rolls Royce, a prized asset of the museum placed at the outset, welcomes the visitor. It is the oldest tank in the museum which was made in 1914 and has seen World War I and II. It was the most successful armoured car weighing 3,861 kg and was powered by water-cooled petrol engine.
It saw action in France, Egypt, East Africa, Russia, guerrilla warfare in Arabia and was later used for internal security duties in India in 1945. A model belonging to this class of armoured cars was used by General Dwyer during the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
History researcher from Ahmednagar Bhushan Deshmukh told DNA, “Ahmednagar was a strategic location for the museum as the city was a centre of military activities since the time of the Mughals. Many tanks used in various wars were made here.”
One of these called Vijayanta is exhibited here.
It was important during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. ‘Amphibious’ tanks like Sea Lion can be seen at the museum which could be used on land and in water. It was originally called Sherman Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle which could work in up to 9 ft of water.
Besides war tanks there are specialised tanks which were developed for aircrew recovery, bridge laying and mine detonation. The mine-detonating tank displayed at the museum has a revolving drum with heavy chains which detonated the mines laid by the enemy for the troops and made their passing safe.
The memorabilia of the cavalry is displayed in two memory rooms. The tales of the heroes of Armoured Corps in the Heroes’ Gallery makes one feel proud of our army.
In the museum also stands Farah Bagh, an impressive monument with striking Persian features built in 16th century, which is worth visiting.
M3 Grant
Grant CDL (Canal Defence Light, on exhibit, that has a unique double-turret design, which housed a powerful 13 million candlepower searchlight, to light up canal crossings on the Rhine and the Elbe during World War II. Most of the specialist vehicles were designed with specific operations in mind as is clearly evident from the nature of their design.
The oldest exhibit is the silver Ghost Rolls Royce armored car. The older exhibits date to First World War vintage and served on the battlefields of Cambrian Somme and Flanders. A large number of vehicles are from Second World War period. Amongst the exhibits are British Valentine, Japanese type 95 HA-GO and Tyand-97 Chi- Ha, Sherman Crab flail tank, M-47 Patton Centurion Mark ll, German Panzer and pride of India Vijayanta. In the Memory hill house souvenirs of all regiments of the Armored Corps are kept.
The evolution and history of tanks unfolds as one takes the beautiful entrance with trees on both sides. Descriptive boards inform the visitor about each tank as one moves around. The armoured corps was incepted during World War I to replace horse cavalry with armoured vehicles for more mobility of the battlefield to overcome the strategic trench warfare.
Many of the tanks captured during World War II are on display. These are mainly Japanese and German tanks. Pakistani tanks which took part in India- Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971 are also exhibited.
Rolls Royce, a prized asset of the museum placed at the outset, welcomes the visitor. It is the oldest tank in the museum which was made in 1914 and has seen World War I and II. It was the most successful armoured car weighing 3,861 kg and was powered by water-cooled petrol engine.
It saw action in France, Egypt, East Africa, Russia, guerrilla warfare in Arabia and was later used for internal security duties in India in 1945. A model belonging to this class of armoured cars was used by General Dwyer during the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
History researcher from Ahmednagar Bhushan Deshmukh told DNA, “Ahmednagar was a strategic location for the museum as the city was a centre of military activities since the time of the Mughals. Many tanks used in various wars were made here.”
One of these called Vijayanta is exhibited here.
It was important during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. ‘Amphibious’ tanks like Sea Lion can be seen at the museum which could be used on land and in water. It was originally called Sherman Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle which could work in up to 9 ft of water.
Besides war tanks there are specialised tanks which were developed for aircrew recovery, bridge laying and mine detonation. The mine-detonating tank displayed at the museum has a revolving drum with heavy chains which detonated the mines laid by the enemy for the troops and made their passing safe.
The memorabilia of the cavalry is displayed in two memory rooms. The tales of the heroes of Armoured Corps in the Heroes’ Gallery makes one feel proud of our army.
In the museum also stands Farah Bagh, an impressive monument with striking Persian features built in 16th century, which is worth visiting.
M3 Grant
Grant CDL (Canal Defence Light, on exhibit, that has a unique double-turret design, which housed a powerful 13 million candlepower searchlight, to light up canal crossings on the Rhine and the Elbe during World War II. Most of the specialist vehicles were designed with specific operations in mind as is clearly evident from the nature of their design.
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