Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles preserved in Massachusetts
One of the aims of this website is to locate, identify and document all armoured fighting vehicles preserved in New England. Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these tangible pieces of our military history and the list you see here is constantly being revised as new finds are discovered and the data is updated. The photos have come from various contributors, but the author likes to “ground truth” the reports, so a good number of the photos are by the author unless otherwise credited. Any errors found here are by the author. It often happens that military monuments that are relatively mobile, have been moved for restoration or scrapped, sometimes they are repainted with different markings and serial numbers, or they are replaced with a different piece of kit. For those reasons, any additions, deletions, corrections or amendments that you may be able to add to this list of Artillery and AFVs in New England would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com. The primary aim is preserve our military history and to keep the record accurate.
Artillery preserved in Massachusetts is listed on a separate page on this web site.
Chicopee
(Geo*Trailblazer 1 Photo)
M5 Stuart Light Tank (Serial No. 3487), Szot Park, off Front St 656.
(Gerry Rogers Photo)
M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 3782), Registration No. 09B04168, Szot Park, off Front St 656.
Dedham
(sgtdorango Photo)
M5A1 Stuart Tank, Serial No. 1460, Registration No. 30448941, “Delores“, American Legion Post 18, 155 Eastern Ave.
Devens, Fort Devens, USARNG Maintenance Facility
M60A3.
MT-LB.
Easton
M3A1 Stuart Light Tank, American Legion Post 7.
(Jim Bagdon Photo)
M60A3 Tank (Serial No. 3800A), Registration No. 09B07468, VFW Post 2547, 170 Allen Rd., North Easton.
Feeding Hills (Agawam)
(Agawam American Legion Post 185 Photo)
M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 4067A), Registration No. 9B7747, American Legion Post 185, 478 Springfield St.
Grandby
M48A3 Patton, (Serial No. 1091W), Registration No. 09A84269, Granby Veterans Memorial Park, North St.
Hamilton
(David Gehrenbeck-Shim Photo)
M4A1(75) Sherman tank, (Serial No. 28785), Registration No. 30373151, Patton Memorial Park, 330 Bay Rd.
Hudson, American Heritage Museum, 568 Main St.
The tanks and armoured fighting vehicles in this museum are presented on a separate page on this website.Devans
Leominster
(Ken Sears Photos)
M60A3 Main Battle Tank, (Serial No. 3961M), Registration No. 9B7523), Johnny Ro Veterans Memorial Park.
Milford
M8 Greyhound, Northeast Military vehicle services.
New Bedford
(Brian S Photo)
(Chris M Photo)
M4A1(76) HVSS Sherman Tank, Exercise Tiger Memorial, VFW Post 1531, 477 Park St. This Sherman Tank stands near the Fort Taber Military Museum at the southern tip of eastern New Bedford. It is the centerpiece of a monument dedicated to those who lost their lives in Exercise Tiger, in preparation for the D-Day landings at Normandy. During this exercise on 28 April 1944, German E-boats sank two tank landing ships and crippled a third, killing 749 US servicemen (551 Army and 198 Navy). These were the heaviest American losses for a battle up to that point in the war after Pearl Harbor. The exercise and D-Day went on as planned.
(A/4/USABOT Photo)
M4A3(75) Sherman Tank (Serial No. 2703), Registration No. 3055663, Pvt. Norbert A. Papineau Memorial, Mount Pleasant St & Lang St. Abrams Company, 4th Battalion “Burt’s Knights”, United States Army Brotherhood of Tankers. T5 Norbert Papineau was the youngest of 3 brothers who served in the Army during the Second World War. All three were in Germany in February 1945. The two older brothers crewed Shermans in different Tank Companies. Norbert served on an M18 Hellcat in a Tank Destroyer Company. T5 N. Papineau was KIA 17 Feb 1945.
(Jim Bragdon Photos)
M26A1 Pershing Tank (Serial No. 1693), Registration No. 30128439 . The turret casting (Serial No. 977) is from Scullin Steel Company, St Louis, Missouri. Franco-American Square, at Mount Pleasant St & Nauset St.
North Andover
(Dinotanker Photos)
M37 Gun Motor Carriage (GMC) Self-Propelled Gun (SPG). This vehicle is located at the VFW in Georgetown, along Highway 133. The M37 mated the gun of the M4 Sherman 105 series with the chassis of the M24 Chaffee light tank.
North Attleboro
(Author Photos)
Belgian FN 4RM-62F armoured car, GI Joe, 847 E Washington St. Only 62 were built in 1971-72, all served with the Belgian Gendarmerie. This AFV’s hull is made of all-welded steel. The three man crew included a driver sitting in the center-front of the vehicle, having a single piece hatch (opening upwards) and three periscopes. He can also see through a bullet-proof window at the very front of the hatch, which had an armored cover in case the vehicle came under fire.
This particular version was armed with a 60-mm (2.36 in) breech-loaded mortar and a 7.62 mm (0.3 in) FN MAG machine gun mounted co-axially, while another was pintle-mounted in front of the commander’s cupola. For concealment, six electrically-fired smoke dischargers were installed on either side of the turret.
A single door on either side of the hull allowed access to the vehicle, the right one being fitted with an observation port. The rest of the crew, the commander (right) and the gunner (left) were seated in the all-welded turret placed in the middle of the vehicle. Each of crewman has his own one-piece hatch and searchlight. The commander’s cupola has 8 vision blocks, while the gunner has three and the main gun optical sight. The turret has an electric-powered traverse, with two-speeds and manual backup. The crew was also protected by an NBC system. This FN 4RM is the only one of its kind in the USA. It appeared in the 1980 movie “Dogs of War”, that starred Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger. Its stands outside G.I. Joe’s Army & Navy Surplus Store.
Northborough
(PanzerAlarm Photo)
M60A0 Main Battle Tank, (Serial No. 376), Registration No. 9B34331, American Legion Post 234, 402 W Main St.
Rochester
M3 Half-Track, Registration No. 40138752.
M3A1 Half-Track (Serial No. 230), Fighting Iron.
M5A1 Stuart Light Tank, Fighting Iron.
Roxbury
M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 3804A), VFW Post 1018, 263 American Legion Hwy.
Salem
(patchtrader Photo)
M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 4112A), Registration No. 03B15169, Brigadier General Albi F. Irzyk Park, Fort Ave.
Springfield
M42A1 Duster, 1525 Roosevelt Ave.
Upton
(Author Photo)
M59 APC, private collection. Similar to this one on display at the 1st Cavalry Museum, Fort Hood, Texas.
West Springfield
(Brad Mills Photo)
British Ferret Scout Car, Army Surplus Store. Similar to this one, privately owned in Truro, Nova Scotia.