Museum gives old tanks new life

Restored metal beasts are in U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection.

Tucked away on base at Fort Moore in Columbus, inside a large warehouse-like building, rests a unique feature of the history of war in the world.

The U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection sports 200 pieces, including rows of tanks, a Cobra helicopter and various other cavalry vehicles spanning more than a century.

Some of the hulking tanks date to World War I and come from countries such as Italy, Germany and Russia. As patrons walk in, they are greeted by a Mark IV tank from World War I with red and white paint on the side. It was a tank made by the British but used by Americans.

Robert Cogan, curator of the Armor & Cavalry Collection, told the Ledger-Enquirer the unique history behind that tank.

During one battle during World War I, the tank — which had cleared out multiple machine gun nests — was hit by German fire. Two of the 11 crew members were killed and seven were wounded.

The two who were unharmed helped evacuate the others. Then, they grabbed machine guns from the tank and went on foot to clear German trenches. They survived and earned Distinguished Service Crosses for their actions.

Now, people can admire and learn the history about these behemoths through the work of those who restore these mechanical beasts at Fort Moore.

Robert Barlow, the museum specialist restoration shop manager, breathes life back into the tanks in the collection. Barlow, a former aviator for the Army who piloted helicopters, used to restore aircraft at the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Novosel in Alabama.

“This job came open and it seemed perfect and I took it,” Barlow said. “That’s been about three-and-a-half years ago. You want to restore something that’s going to be around for a long time. You hope that people take away something from it.”

Barlow told the Ledger-Enquirer his job is fun — and that “you get to play with tanks all day.”

Barlow said there’s a certain amount of humility involved in restoring tanks that have seen action.

“People actually lived in those things, and sometimes breathed their last in them,” he said. “So you got to think about that. You can’t be cavalier about it.”

Barlow said it takes a lot of preparation to restore the tanks, which sometimes aren’t in the best condition. At times, the tanks coming into the shop may be missing several components, which then brings up the question as to how to replace those parts.

Barlow said he wants to keep everything as authentic as possible without using fabricated replica parts.

Attention to detail goes in restorations

Right now, Barlow is working on a M3A3 Stuart tank from World War II; there are authentic spare parts from the era on shelves nearby in their original packaging. Some 3,430 M3A3 tanks were produced.

The restoration team wants to get everything as accurate as possible and researches the history of each tank when it’s available. They even work to replicate the paint color and markings the tank would’ve had when it was in action.

Another issue the team can run into is the weight of the parts for some of these vehicles. “Everything you deal with is heavy,” Barlow said.

The M3A3 tank the team currently is restoring weighs around 19 tons, or 38,000 pounds.

That’s almost minuscule compared to a tank in the collection that weighs nearly 95 tons (about 190,000 pounds). That is the experimental American T28 superheavy tank. Only two prototypes were built before the project was scrapped; the one in the collection was discovered hidden in a field in 1974 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The T28 features a 105-millimeter barrel with two sets of tracks on both sides of the tank to support the immense weight.

Barlow said the volunteers that help him refurbish the tanks are indispensable.

“I absolutely could not do it without them,” he said. “I could not do my job; I would’ve quit long ago if I didn’t have volunteers to help me.”

Despite the difficulties that can arise in working with these machines, Barlow drives more than two hours each way from his home in Enterprise, Alabama, to Fort Moore to do his job.

“I like doing this, or I wouldn’t be doing this,” he said.

The Facebook page for the collection (Facebook/com./ArmorandCavalryCollection) has more information.

COURTESY OF MIKE HASKEY Robert Barlow, who’s in charge of refurbishing tanks at the U.S. Army Armor and Cavalry Collection at Fort Moore in Columbus, shows off a restored M 14/41 Italian tank, also called the Carro Armato M 14/41.