Travel:

Aberdeen Proving Ground
Tank Park and Museum

Aberdeen, MD (USA)

article and photos by Russ Lockwood



Aberdeen Proving Grounds Tank Park and Museum is located on the military base, more or less at the junction of Maryland Hwys 22 and 40. From I-95, take the Aberdeen Proving Ground Exit, follow 22 east, then 40 south, and then loop into the base. It's all well marked. You have to check in at the base gate, which requires photo IDs and car registration, but it's quick. Then, down the main street a few lights, hang a left, and you're there. Plenty of fast food and other restaurants are at the interstate highway exit or along Rte 40 just outside the base.

It bills itself as the "mile of tanks," which I guess is how long the rows of tanks would be if placed end to end. A small museum holds mostly small arms: pistols, rifles, MGs, mortars, and such, with a couple vehicles and artillery pieces within. According to the flier, it boasts 225 vehicles/artillery pieces and the occasional rocket. Although that may still hold true, the actual number on display outside is less, as the empty concrete pads testify. I suppose they are being refurbished or in storage, for the majority of tanks and artillery pieces are rusting away.

A old photo from the cover of the pamphlet showing a full backyard.

One dopey idea is that some of the tanks are parked on the main street--and no parking lot to pull into. I suppose you can just pull to the side of the road, but why they separated the half dozen or so tanks from the museum and tank park remains a mystery.

They've been pushing to collect funds for the last 10 years (at least) to build structures, but judging from the plaques on the walls, they aren't doing so well selling named bricks or garnering contributions. I thought them part of the US Army, but not so. If I understand it aright, there's a Museum Foundation that rents the building and grounds from a "Corp" Foundation (which owns the gift shop for some reason), which has some sort of deal with the Army. Maybe they should become part of the Smithsonian. Maybe they could attract a rich contribution from a tank enthusiast the way the Smithsonian's new aircraft museum is named after Udvar-Hazy. According to a sign next to the T-72M, it cost $30,000-$40,000 to restore the tank. I suspect it will take a similar amount for the other tanks, which may be smaller, but have more rust and rehabilitation.

Somewhere, I have photos from an earlier trip some 15 or so years ago. It'd be interesting to unearth them for comparison.

Still, don't let this dim your view of this impressive museum and park. You'll find all the major WWII tanks there, plus a few of the less famous, and enough artillery pieces to make the trip worth it. For a full visit, figure on 2-3 hours.

Admission is free. Hours are daylight to dusk for the park, and 10am to 4:45pm every day (except national Holidays) for the museum.

The museum from the balcony, which has more cases. To the left off camera were more artillery and vehicles, a gift shop, and a theater.

In any case, this report is put together from two visits. One came in the cold depths of January, 2004. How cold was it? It was so cold, the batteries drained from my digital camera from a half dozen shots and the ink froze in my pen after about 10 minutes.

The other visit came in October 2004, a 75-degree sunny day. This was more like it!

During the first visit, no German vehicles were on display inside the building. During the second visit, the Schwimmwagen and Kubelwagen were on display, but the ammo room off the balcony was closed.

The Museum

The ground floor of the museum is packed with cases and cases of small arms, along with a few artillery pieces, a couple German vehicles, and a French R-35 tank.

The backyard of the museum with some of the tanks and artillery.

The Tank and Artillery Park

Just about every vehicle or artillery piece is NOT identified. No signs. No map. No nuthin'. I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of WWII tanks is less than perfect, but I was able to use a variety of reference materials to identify almost all the tanks. If you spot an error, or can refine the ID with a model number, let us know!

Every tank and vehicle on display is included in my report except for the M1, T-72, and Bradley out front, and the half dozen or so tanks parked along the main street a mile from the museum. Some of the artillery pieces are noted...but that would be for another trip.

Sources

Bidwell, Shelford, ed. Brassey's Artillery of the World, Brassey, 1977. ISBN: 0-517-27718-2
Chamberlain, Peter and Hillary Doyle. Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two, Arms and Armour, 1999. ISBN: 1-85409-518-8
Chamberlain, Peter and Chris Ellis. British and American Tanks of World War Two, Stirling, 2001. ISBN: 0-304-35529-1
Foss, Christopher F., ed. Encyclopedia of Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, Thunder Bay, 2002. ISBN: 1-57145-806-9
Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of WWII, Greenhill Books, 1997. ISBN: 1-85367-480-X
Hogg, Ian V. Twentieth Century Artillery, Friedman/Fairfax, 2000. ISBN: 1-58663-299-X
Trewhitt, Philip. Armored Fighting Vehicles, Friedman/Fairfax, 2000. ISBN: 1-58663-302-3

Aberdeen Museum and Tank Park

Back to List of Historic Sites
Back to Travel Master List
Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines
© Copyright 2004 by Coalition Web, Inc.
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles covering military history and related topics are available at http://www.magweb.com