A CAUTIONARY TALE As part of the process of repainting exhibits and preparing them for the new exhibition the staff in the Tank Museum Workshops have now started to strip down and tidy up our Sd Kfz 265 Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen, the command tank on the Panzer I Ausf B chassis. The tank was captured in North Africa, returned to Britain for evaluation and ultimately handed over to the Tank Museum in 1951. It was the subject of a School of Tank Technology report but this does not explain two strange features. Tank Museum photo No. 7492-024 In this front view you can see the additional armour plate that was bolted on to the vehicle at some stage. Only it isn’t armour. It appears to be what tank designers would call 'soft plate' which is certainly not soft if you bang your head against it but neither is it at all bullet proof. It is certainly not a standard fit and it would be interesting to know where, and under what circumstances, it was fitted to the tank. Tank Museum photo No. 7492.065 However the real surprise comes when we investigate the rear of the tank. The workshops staff discovered that the stowage bin on the rear of the fighting compartment did not appear to fit very well and they came to the conclusion that, somewhere along the line a large chunk of this tank, probably the rear part covering the engine, seems to have been replaced at some time. Nobody seems to know when although it is quite possible that, when the School of Tank Technology had finished with it and passed it on to the Tank Museum, they replaced the original engine decks, which may have missing or damaged, was lifted from another tank. We know for sure that a Panzer I gun tank was also brought back to Britain and what was left of it ended up as a target, on a range in the south of England. It was ultimately recovered and restored by the Panzermuseum in Germany. What this means, of course, is that researchers and model makers seeking absolute authenticity need to beware of this exhibit, and others in the Tank Museum collection which have probably been modified at least once in their careers. Tank Museum photo No.7492.056 By way of contrast the interior of the little Panzer I befehls is in quite good shape, allowing for a little rust, a lot of dust and some battle damage virtually everything is there, apart from the stowage items and the radio of course. Much of the stowage, gas mask containers and so on, we should be able to find but if anyone knows where we can find the appropriate set, probably a Fug 6, we should be grateful. To view previous article(s) in this series, click here. Numbered photos can be bought from the Tank Museum Shop (please note down the number of the photos you are interested in)	View archive