During the 1930s hundreds of towns and cities around the UK had military hardware on display, but these were often unwanted as Richard Pullen discovers
The ownership and preservation of historic military vehicles are often hampered by one thing: finding good, available examples in need of restoration. Wouldn’t it be nice if hundreds of rare ex-army machines had been just left lying around, unwanted and often free to a good home? Perhaps nowadays, this is just a dream, but if we go back to the late 1930s, hundreds of towns and cities around the country had military hardware on display, usually hardware they could not wait to get rid of.
Captured German trench mortars and field guns were to be found all over the place, displayed in town squares, playing fields and parks from Glasgow to Portsmouth.
These were taken as the spoils of war, glorious reminders of what had been achieved and handed out to eager councils for generations of kids to play on. However, something larger and less well-received was often seen lurking in the local park, something many parish councils were less happy to be given - tanks.
Wars are expensive. modern army moving with the latest military millions and governments the lookout …
