Lesany, Central Bohemia, Sept 2 (CTK) – Crowds of people could see the re-enactment of a World War Two battle between the U.S. and German militaries during the 15th Tank Day in the Lesany Military Museum on Saturday.
The re-enactment was held with the participation of tens of military history clubs members who used heavy machines from the war, including tanks and armoured personnel carriers.
“It was accompanied by sound effects and there was shooting from the heavy weapons of the Jackson tank destroyers. There was also a German flamethrower,” Andrej Halada, from the Prague Military History Insitute (VHU), said.
The crowd filled the stands and applauded the actors of the 30 minute performance.
The programme also showed tanks from interwar Czechoslovakia up to the present.
The show included tanks manufactured by Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, the USA and Germany and there was even the legendary Israeli tank Merkava.
“After the rains, the terrain was muddy, but most of the machines coped with well with this,” Halada said.
The viewers could also admire the latest exhibit acquired by the VHU, an armoured Toyota car and the Perun armoured carrier, manufactured for the Czech military by the company SVOS Prelouc.
Its CEO Ladislav Pek said the vehicle would have its international premiere at a specialised fair in London in mid-September.
The Military Technical Museum in Lesany opened in the former artillery barracks in 1996.
It has acquired hundreds of vintage tanks, guns, motorcycles, armoured vehicles and lorries. With its collections, it is one of the most outstanding European institutions of its kind.
It can boast of a collection of Czechoslovak military means of transport from 1918 to 1939 and a collection of the Skoda guns.
