Dorset's Tank Museum gets new bit of kit for display

A Panzer 57/60 has been donated to the Bovington attraction

Author: Faye TryhornPublished 9th Jan 2022

A new tank's gone on display at a Dorset museum, after being donated to them by the Swiss Army.

The Tank Museum's taken delivery of a running Panzer 57/60, thanks to the Swiss armed forces' Centre for Historic Equipment.

It's a variant of the popular Centurion - widely thought to be one of the most successful post-war tanks, because of its reliability and capacity to be modified.

The Centurion in the Tank Museum Workshop before going on display

More than 20 countries' Armies used the tank, and was in British service for more than 50 years.

Historian David Fletcher explains more about the Centurion's history:

The new Panzer 57/60 is now on display within the Tank Museum's Cold War Hall.

It's replaced the Centurion's 20 pounder gun with the L7 105mm weapon.

Head of Collections at the Dorset attraction, Chris van Schaardenburgh, said:

“We are incredibly grateful to the Swiss Army - Centre for Historic Equipment of the Armed Forces for donating this vehicle to us in such good running condition.

“It’s currently on display for visitors to see in the Cold War Hall and we look forward to seeing it operating in The Tank Museum arena at our events in the future.”

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.