Patton Magach tank Memorial for 4 cadets in the officers course died in Yom Kippur War
Centurion,Sherman,M3 half truck and captured Jordanian M 47 in Adar Memorial
27th Armored Brigade Memorial
Captured Jordanian M 47 in Adar Memorial site near Jerusalem
T 55 in IDF base
Half truck in the Negev Brigade memorial
3 SU 100 taken in Six Days War ,mow of Kiriat Shemona in the north of Israel
Memorial site in beer Sheva
Shot Kal -Centurion in Shizafon base
Ex Jordanian M47( 6 Days War) in a memorial site in "Dotan" west bank
Centurion in front of Armor School of the 50 -80's (Jullis)
Shot Kal (centurion) in the Golan- 7th brigade memorial site
T62 and Universal carrier in Petach Tikva memorial garden
T34 in Kibbutz Dan (near the Golan)
Kibbutz Degania-a Syrian Renault 35 tank hit in the gate 1948
Sherman and T34 in Latrun Memorial site
Sherman in Latrun Memorial site
T 62 hit in 1973 war in the Golan
Sherman in Tel Aviv
M 22 captured from Egypt in 1948 located in Kibbutz Negba
Since the war of independence in 1948 many memorial sites were built in Israel
and in the border areas close to the battle fields .
I will bring you pictures of memorial sites where armored vehicles are used as part of the site
it can be IDF or captured items and other sites such as military bases or any city or village
Located in the Ayalon Valley the former British colonial police fort has been an item of import for over 60 years. Used to dominate both the Israeli and Arab populace during the Mandate period, it's location took on additional importance during Israel's War of Independence. During the war the road to Jerusalem which passed near latrun was often blocked by local arab forces. For the Israeli populace having only recently declared independence in the Jewish areas of the partition, the loss of Jerusalem would be unthinkable. Abdallah of Jordan saw the situation as a means of gaining territory and possibly Mediterranean access. He sent The Arab Legion to take up positions in both the Byzantine old city of Jerusalem as well as Latrun. This effectively blockaded Israeli West Jerusalem.
The new Israeli government knew the situation and attacked the police fort and surrounding areas on three occasions, once getting forces into the fort. Each time however the new Israeli army was pushed back with often grievous losses. The solution was to build a bypass road which is called the 'Burma Road' . This was really nothing more than an improvised, hastily constructed road that enabled supplies to reach western Jerusalem thus breaking the siege and securing Jerusalem as Israel's new capital. Although the fort itself was abandoned by the Legion after the siege had been broken it would remain in Jordanian hands until 1967 when it was liberated by forces of Uzi Narkess's central command.
In 1982 the cornerstone for what would be the memorial and museum was laid. With the help of both sitting and retired officers the museum at Latrun has grown into one of the predominant armour museums in the world. It houses not only examples of IDF vehicles and those captured in it's many wars but examples bought or traded for from around the world. Today the Latrun museum houses over 100 vehicles from pre-WW2 Hotchkiss to prototypes of the Merkava 1,2 and 3. There are an array of soft vehicles as well as examples of bridging and mine clearing apparatus. The museum houses not just the inanimate metal tanks but the histories of its units and individual soldiers. This is a place to stop not just for the armour vehicle enthusiast but for anyone interested in the history of the IDF ground forces. Not unlike Yad V'shem in Jerusalem the museum and monument shows the real cost of defending ones heritage and country....... It's lost future generations
A Tiran crew ready to move on the 1973 Jerusalem IDF parade
Rare picture of IDF Tiran 4 based on the original 100 mm Soviet gun used in the T54
Tiran during firing training
Tiran Dozer
A Tiran crew during a drill in Sinai in the 70's
The T54 was designed during the mid to late 1940s. First production models with an early pattern turret were started rolling off assembly lines in 1949. the new tank would incorperate the D-10 100mm gun originally intended for a SU anti tank vehicle similiar to the SU-85. This gun specifically and the T-54 in general would send the western allies scrambling for a comparible weapon during the early part of the 1950s culminating in the adoption of the British L68 105 mm rifled main gun as the NATO standard.
The T-54 would recieve numerous upgrades during the early 1950s. some of which included amin gun stabilization, night fighting equipment and a fume extractor at the end of the barrel. The T54 would be licenced produced in many warsaw pact countries as well as in China under the T-59 designation. The next step in the evolution was the advent of the T-55 series. Although very similiar to the T-54, The T55 had numerous improvements over the T-54 series. The most notable difference between the two was the deletion of the ventilator dome in front of the loader. There were also more important shanges in automotive ability as well as an eventual laser range finder.
The next step in soviet tank evolution was the T-62. although similar in general appearence to the earlier T-54/55 series, the T62 was a very different tank. The turret on the T-62 has a more balistic form and is a single peice casting. main armament is a 115 mm main gun. the engine deck also has minor changes as well from the T-55 series. The Hull of the T-62 is longer and wider than the t-55. Two quick ways to Identify a T62 from a T-55 is the location of the fume extractor on the barrel. on the T-62 it is about a third down from the point , on the T-55 it is literally at point of the barrel. the second way is the spacing of the road wheels. where the T55 has a space between the first and second road wheels the T-62 has a space between the third and fourtha as well as between fourth and fifth.
The IDF Tiran
The is the name given to this series of vehicle in the IDF. Although there is some debate as to its origin, It most likely comes from the primary cause of the Six Day war, which was the closing of the Straights of Tiran. For certain however the designation Ti-67 is a Janes or other printing house fantasy or a miscopy that became its nickname. The First Tirans came into IDF hands during the Six Day War. These were mostly late model T-54s as distiguished by the roof top ventilator although some T-55s were captured as well. While exact numbers are not known, enough were captured to arm at least 3 battalions during the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Following the Yom Kippur war even more t54/55s were captured as well as the latest T-62s. Again while exact numbers are not known, it wouldn't be far fetched to say enough vehicles were captured to equip a number of brigades.
Acccording to IDF designations there are three Tirans, Tiran4, 5, and 6. Four for theT-54, five for the T-55 and Six for the T-62. While there have numerous updates and modifications of the Tirans I have been unable to find any sub designations for them. or rather any IDF designationtions media ones abound. The IDF also made use of a number of support vehicle based on the T-55 chassis such as bridgelayers and engineer vehicles. To the best of my knowledge these retained their Identification numbers and few modifications other than radio equipment were made to the vehicles.
Like most other tools the IDF began an almost immediate improvement project to modify and upgrade the captured vehicles. Some vehicles are seen with early straight barrel 100mm guns and only two water cans added to the rear of theturret. By 1973 the 100mmm gun is repalced by the standard 105mm found on western tanks, now built under license in Israel. This was possibly the hardest modification as it entailed flipping the Breach so it could be loaded from the right side.extra antenna mounts were added . By 1973 only the rear stowage basket, the affore mentioned 105mm modification. 2 watercan holders were placed behind the loader,along with a small storage box. the vehicles seen were armed with one .30 cal. crew served weapon mounted sectraly on the turret top.
The hard lessons learned during the Yom kippur war brought about a lot of doctrinal chnages in the IDF, as well as physical changes to it armour fleet. By the late 70s early 80s. The changes no seen in the Blast and Legend update sets were in place. By the end of the 80s the main battle tank version of the T55 series were withdrawn fiom service. T54/55 series hulls however were modified into APCs using the latest modular armour technology. This gave mechnized infantry the same protection on the battlefield as any tank enhancing crew survivability.
Israel has had so much experience with Soviet armour they now sell upgrade packages to almost all the former Soviet client states. Israeli test beds have included blazer packages, Merkava style turret basket and Urdn style cupolas. While the T54/55/62 series is concidered obsolete in the european arena, they still soldier on in many third world countries. Israeli influence can clearly be seen in communist China's up graded armour fleet. The T54/55 definitely has made a place for itself in armour history, along with tanks like the Sherman, Centurion and Patton
