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The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum - Cairns.
Armourfest 2018.

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A few years ago I began to hear that there was a new military museum being built in Cairns (North Queensland, Australia) and that the owner had purchased a number of the vehicles from the former Littlefield Collection in the USA.


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Some of those vehicles I had a conection with via the dealer who had originally supplied them to the Littlefield collection and even prior to that when at least one of them had belonged to the Budge Collection in the UK.
As always, the following article is my experience, in this instance of TAAaAM, it is by no means representative of anyone else's experience or a comprehensive record of all the vehicles that are there, especially so as the collection is still expanding. Photos can be found on the internet if you want to study each vehicle.
This to the best of my knowledge is the 3rd year of the Aus Armourfest and presents an opportunity to purchase a ride in a variety of AFVs.
Comparisons can be drawn to several other similar events in the UK/Europe region but the stand out difference for Cairns is the variety of vehicles to choose from and the cost. As an indication, a drive of a Go-Kart at the nearby track cost roughly the same as a ride on the Kettenkrad (also OT-810 and Bren Gun Carrier: but if you want some change back, the Saladin or Fox were cheaper)!

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Cairns is a bit puzzling. Population is around 140,000 people which makes it a small city, but the traffic is more like a much larger place. Which was not a problem, just not what we were expecting. The airport is much bigger than you expect as it is also an "International Airport" serving into Asia. This can be readily seen by how many shops also have Asian languages along with English on their signage. The impression we got is that Cairns is a destination rather than a way point to other places in Queensland.

The end of August/beginning of September is a good time to be in Cairns, it was so nice to shed off the winter clothing and put on shorts and a T-shirt. Some of the people I talked to at the museum were commenting on the weather back home with one saying that it was -7°C overnight where he came from in Cooma, NSW.

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The museum collection consists of both armour and artillery as the name of the museum suggests. I noticed 4 "soft-skin" vehicles: a very nice WW2 jeep, the Russian missile prime mover, a Quad (WW2 artillery prime mover) that was waiting its turn to be restored and of course the Kettenkrad.
The artillery ranges from a WW1 German field gun through to Cold War heavy American: artillery is not my thing, you need to look elsewhere for that. But I will say, that the museum's main 88mm does look really nice.
When you first walk into the museum proper, there sits an early production version of a Kettenkrad. Unlike so many in other museums, this one is a runner. Next you are looking at an Abbot Self Propelled Gun, which for most people is close enough to being a tank. But then, just to put things into perspective there is a Chieftain Main Battle Tank. A nice contrast layout.
Much deeper into the museum however is the dominating vehicle of the collection, which is the huge Russian Pion 2S7 203mm Self Propelled Gun.
The museum building is purpose built and I am told is to be extended soon due to the space needed for more vehicles. To the rear of the museum is a large field with a "figure 8" track. A shrewd design being that unlike other venues overseas where the tracked vehicles run on an oval track and are continually turning in one direction, here, the wear is evened up on the steering systems as the vehicles must turn in both directions.

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A general view inside the museum.


Armour:
I was pleased to see that the owner has not limited himself to a specific era the way so many collectors and museums do. The vehicles range from pre-WW2 Russian light tanks to Cold War heavy. There are also such rare and interesting vehicles as an SdKfz-250 German semi-track and its bigger brother the SdKfz-251. To compliment the latter vehicle is the Tatra OT-810 which is the post-war Czech variant and this was one of the ride vehicles out on the field.
So something for everyone.

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The German semi-tracks, with Hetzer in the background.


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The SdKfz-250 the much rarer little brother of the SdKfz-251.

Although artillery is not my thing, I did get distracted by those examples that had a connection with the Kettenkrad. If the need to get various weapons into difficult locations had not existed the Kettenkrad would not have come about. Below are a few examples of what Kettenkrads were called on to tow.

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Pak 36 Anti-tank gun, in this case fitted with
the Stielgranate 41 hollow charge projectile.


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Flak 38 (2cm) with Sd.Ah.51 trailer mount.


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The infamous Flak Vierling - deadly to any ground attack
fighter plane - with Sd.Ah.52 trailer mount.


Below are a selection of photos that I was able to take of various vehicles that were being worked on or were open at the time I was wandering around.



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Russian T-54.


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Russian T-54 engine bay.
Note the transverse mounted engine, not
at all conventional in the tank world.


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Czech T-38.


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Czech T-38 gearbox. Believe it or not, this is a very close
relative to the gearbox in a Ferret scout car and also the Hetzer.
It is pre-selective type. As you can see, the vehicle has been carefully
restored to a high standard.


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West German JagdPanzer Kanone.


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JagdPanzer engine bay. The large engine deck has a very cleverly
designed system to ease maintenance, a manually operated handle much
like on a jack, pumps up the hydraulic ram you can see on the LHS.


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JagdPanzer gearbox, rather large! The red painted
dipstick gives scale.


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JagdPanzer engine, also not small.


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JagdPanzer driving position. The seat is in the upper most
height setting. Note the vehicle has both a steering wheel and
conventional laterals (steering levers).


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The Centurion being worked on. It put in an appearance
on the field but was not one of the ride vehicles.

Below are some random photos of vehicles that took my interest. There should be more, but I got distracted by the action in the field and discussions.


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Churchill Toad (flail) one of 2 restored examples in existence.
To the left front is a W-670 radial engine out of a Stuart tank.


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Fox on the left, Saladin on the right. Both runners.


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CVRT Sabre - a runner.


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2 of the surviving 6 examples in the world of Australian
built Sentinel Cruiser Tanks.


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Australian Dozer conversion of a British Matilda tank.
The Britstand blade system was quite ingenious and could be detached
from the vehicle without the crew exposing themselves.


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M114 APC, a strange design that proved entirely unsuited to
the Vietnam war. On the left is an M577 Command vehicle
(M113 family - a very successful vehicle system).


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Schützenpanzer SPz 11-2 Kurz Beobachtungspanzer Hotchkiss.
A French light tank used by the Germans and in this instance fitted with
a Rolls Royce engine. Everyone else thinks that this vehicle is a one off
conversion done by a collector, I have a distinct recollection that there
were quite a few converted commercially, but I cannot find any trace of
that event on the internet, so now I am puzzled.


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L to R: Jadgpanzer Kanone, M4A1 Sherman, Churchill AVRE).


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A Centurion turret trainer. I can remember coming across some
of these many years ago that then got scrapped. There probably
aren't many survivors.

The sound of "tank" engines and the squeak of track was effectively continuous on both Saturday and Sunday. Having first heard that background noise at Beltring in the UK it brought back memories, the difference being at Beltring it only happens for a limited time as each event in the arena has its turn, including Land Rover parades AND there are no rides. Bovington also holds a fest, but the only rides available are on an M548 (Tracked Load Carrier) which technically, does not qualify as an AFV (ie, it is not really a tank, it isn't armoured).



Rides: For the other 363 days of the year when Armourfest is not on, there is an FV-432 APC that has been modified as a ride vehicle. Thus the general public can experience an AFV, but in more comfort than what us armour enthusiasts are accustomed to having.

For Armourfest there were roughly 16 vehicles available for rides, ranging from a jeep up to main battle tanks (yes, plural). Should someone who has not been around armoured vehicles close their eyes and listen, they may be surprised at how distinctive the sound of each vehicle can be.
This ranges from:
- The surprisingly loud clatter of the rollers on the drive sprockets of the Kettenkrad, KK track is actually really quiet, it is the sprockets that are making the noise.
- The busy whooshing whine of a CVRT Sabre (cooling fan mostly).
- The raw track clatter, the distinctive track thump of a steering input and racuous engine in the T-72.
- The engine note of the 6V53 Detroit 2 stroke diesel in the FSV.
- The deep and satisfying to listen to thrum of the 830hp V-10 MTU engine in the Leopard.

A couple of the vehicles had technical issues that side lined them for a time over the weekend, but all were returned to operation fairly quickly. The museum tries very hard not to disappoint.

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The choice of ride vehicles. I have blotted out the prices
as I don't want someone reading this in 5 years time to get out of
date information.


It was interesting to discover which vehicles proved the most popular. We could predict which ones the armour enthusiasts would go for, but expected the public desires to be just a guess. Curiously the history aspect didn't appear to be the drawcard, it appeared to be more a case of "bigger is better".

- Armour enthusiasts = Hetzer (one of only 2 runners in the world as the rest are post war Czech G-13s)

- Public = the popular choice as far as I could tell appeared to be the T-72, with the Leopard a close 2nd. Interestingly the Kettenkrad was also quite busy, which I find curious, but perhaps I am too familiar with KKs and cannot really gauge their public appeal. I often get the comment "its a tank bike" when people first see mine, it seems to both puzzle and amuse people at the same time. I did over hear a couple of blokes and a son encouraging their friend to have a ride on the KK, they were describing how nice it was.
Somewhere in that group is the M-110 Self Propelled Gun, one of the lesser known vehicles in this hobby, but for some reason, is very popular with the public.

In the photos in this article you will notice that there are some vehicles moving whilst others are parked up. It is not that the parked vehicles were no longer available, put simply a way of keeping the field uncluttered. Rides are sold on the basis of a 4 "tiered" pricing. The purchaser than takes a "chit" down to the ride area and if the vehicle they want a ride in is mobile, they wait their turn. If the vehicle is parked up, then it is fetched and the ride happens.
All of the vehicles could take at least 2 people for a ride.
You will also notice that the track looks wet, this was due to the very frequent attention of the water tanker to prevent dust.

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Some views of the field and vehicles in action. The majority
of the crowd was behind me when I was taking these photos because I
wanted photos that did not have people obscuring the vehicles.


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Leopard passengers getting the "on vehicle" safety briefing
after the steps have been pulled clear of the vehicle.


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The end of day 1 with the Centurion returning to its home.


From the general conversations that I heard snippets of as people walked past at the museum, it really did appear that a lot were there purely because of Armourfest. One bloke known to me made the comment that his wife bought him a flight/accommodation/car package and said "you're going": it is his 2nd year in a row. He filled me in on how much the museum has changed/expanded in just one year.



I renewed aquaintances with a number of people in the armour owner community who I had not seen since the hey day of armour at the Corowa meets. All being in Cairns solely for Armourfest.

In Summary: This event is evolving as is the museum. Everyone I talked to wishes the owners every success and are impressed with the time, effort and expense that goes into running armour. Especially so given that the public is able to participate by riding in the vehicles.


That's it for Aus Armourfest 2018.

 

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