Cavalry Tank Museum is a

military museum A military museum or war museum is an institution dedicated to the preservation and education of the significance of wars, conflicts, and military actions. These museums serve as repositories of artifacts (not least weapons), documents, photographs ...

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar, officially Ahilyanagar, is a city in, and the headquarters of, the Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. Ahmednagar has several dozen buildings and sites from the Nizam Shahi period. Ahmednagar Fort, once considered almost impre ...

in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was established by the Armored Corps Centre and School in February 1994. It is the only museum of its kind in Asia and houses about 50 exhibits of vintage

armored fighting vehicles An armoured fighting vehicle (British English) or armored fighting vehicle (American English) (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can b ...

Collection

The oldest exhibit is the silver Ghost

Rolls-Royce Armoured Car The Rolls-Royce armoured car is a British armoured car developed in 1914 and used during the First World War, Irish Civil War, the inter-war period in Imperial Air Control in Transjordan, Palestine and Mesopotamia, and in the early stages of the ...

(Indian Pattern). The older exhibits date to First World War vintage and served on the battlefields of Cambrai, the Somme, and

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

. A large number of vehicles are from Second World War period. Among the exhibits there are British Valentine and two Churchill Mk. VII infantry tanks, along with a

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 ...

of similar type, an Imperial Japanese

Type 95 Ha-Go The was a light tank used by the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. It proved sufficient against infantry but was not effective against othe ...

light tank and a

Type 97 Chi-Ha The was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and the Second World War. It was the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of World War II. ...

medium tank, a US Sherman Crab mine-flail tank, a British Centurion Mk. II main battle tank (MBT), a Nazi German

Schwerer Panzerspähwagen The (German for 'heavy armoured reconnaissance vehicle'), is a series of six- and eight-wheeled Armored car (military), armoured cars that were used by Nazi Germany, Germany during the World War II, Second World War. In the German Army, armou ...

heavy armoured car and Indian

Vijayanta The ''Vijayanta'' () was a main battle tank built in India based on a licensed design of the Vickers Mk.1. The Vijayanta was the first indigenous tank of the Indian Army. The prototype was completed in 1963 and the tank entered service on Decem ...

MBT. Also on display is a British Archer tank destroyer (based on the

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 ...

), a Canadian Sexton

self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

tracked-vehicle, US

M3 Stuart The M3 Stuart/light tank M3, was a US light tank of World War II, first entered service in the British Army in early 1941 and saw action in the North African campaign in July 1941. Later an improved version of the tank entered service as the ...

and

M22 Locust The M22 Locust, officially Light Tank (Airborne), M22, was an American-designed airborne light tank which was produced during World War II. The Locust began development in 1941 after the British War Office requested that the American governmen ...

light tanks, together with an American M3 Medium Tank and various armoured cars from different eras and periods of conflicts. A Nazi German 88mm anti-aircraft/armour field-gun captured from German troops (possibly belonging to the

15th Panzer Division The 15th Panzer Division () was an armoured division in the German Army, the Wehrmacht, during World War II, established in 1940. The division, formed from the 33rd Infantry Division, fought exclusively in North Africa from 1941 to 1943, event ...

of the

Afrika Korps The German Africa Corps (, ; DAK), commonly known as Afrika Korps, was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its Africa ...

, based on the divisional markings on the artillery-piece) is also on display at the museum. There are some war-trophy tanks taken from the Pakistani military during both the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, such as the American-made

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 ...

medium tank, a WWII-era Chaffee and a Cold War-era

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 ...

, both light tanks. On display is also an Indian

AMX-13 The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1952 to 1987. It served with the French Army, as the Char 13t-75 Modèle 51, and was exported to more than 26 other nations. Named after its initial weight of 13 tonnes, and featuring a tough and re ...

light tank of French origin from the 1950s and a

PT-76 The PT-76 is a Soviet Union, Soviet amphibious vehicle, amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exporte ...

amphibious/light tank from that same period. On the museum's Memory Hill, it is where the housing of souvenirs of all regiments of the Indian Army's Armoured Corps are kept. The museum stays open on all days of the week (except Mondays) from 9:00am to 5:00pm. There is an entry fee of Rs. 50 (50 rupees) per person with additional fees included for photography and video-recording.

Vehicles on display

main battle tank * Silver Ghost

* Valentine infantry tank * Valentine bridge laying vehicle * Churchill Mk VII infantry tank *

Cruiser Mk I The Tank, Cruiser, Mk I (A9) was a British cruiser tank of the interwar period. It was the first cruiser tank: a fast tank designed to bypass the main enemy lines and engage the enemy's lines of communication, as well as enemy tanks. The Cruis ...

tank *

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 ...

main battle tank * Matilda I infantry tank *

light tank * Sherman Crab

Mine flail A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a minefield by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II. The mine flail consists of ...

tank *

Sherman BARV A beach armoured recovery vehicle (BARV) is an armoured recovery vehicle used for amphibious warfare, amphibious landings. There have been three different BARVs in United Kingdom, British service since their introduction during World War II. ...

Sea Lion * Sexton self-propelled gun *

MK II main battle tank *

armoured car *

light tank *

M24 Chaffee The M24 Chaffee (officially light tank M24) was an American light tank used during the later part of World War II; it was also used in post–World War II conflicts including the Korean War, and by the French in the Algerian War, War in Algeri ...

light tank *

light tank

Gallery

Image:Ahmednagar Cavalry Tank Museum Rolls Royce Armoured Car.JPG,

Image:Valentine mk 3 tank ahmednagar.jpg, British

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 ...

Image:Ahmednagar Cavalry Tank Museum Valentine Brueckenlegepanzer.JPG, Bridge Layer Version of

Image:Cruiser tank ahmednagar tank museum.jpg, A9-

Image:Sea lion sherman BRV.jpg, Sea Lion

Image:Ahmednagar_Cavalry_Tank_Museum_Sexton_Haubitze.JPG, Sexton self-propelled gun Image:Ahmednagar Cavalry Tank Museum Vijayanta.JPG, Indian

Centurion tank The FV4007 Centurion was the primary main battle tank of the British Army during the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing comba ...

References

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External links

Ahmednagar's Cavalry Tank Museum, Web Archive from www.bharat-rakshak.com
Ahmednagar Museums in Maharashtra Military and war museums in India Tourist attractions in Ahmednagar district Tank museums