WWII T-34 in China

[kennethc]

I got this link from a friend of mine...
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HEre is the recent photos from China local News.
http://www.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.ph...ws&MsgID=18772
(written in chinese)

The non-functioning WWII T-34 was bought by locals.
The buy-in price, (per kilo is USD$0.20, WWII T-34 for USD$540)

The whole tank was stripped off on ~Oct 15th-21st, 2004 by a junkyard company and everything (Treasure => scrap) was sold for USD$2000 .

The process was well described on above link (in chinese). have someone translate it for you... or use translation software.

[kennethc]

photo 2

[Adrian Stevenson]

What a shame! If they had have been allowed to sell it overseas it would have made them a lot of money.

Cheers, Ade.

[Generaldirektor]

I really feel sorry for this tank This piece of history surely was wasted by junk shops (again, as they usually do)

But this shows threre are still some WWII tanks out there that can be bought cheaply (and hopefully if I find one, I can restore it ) Maybe I should try visiting China or Russia (but shipping costs will kill )

Jay

[Theodor]

But why go to China? Come to Bulgaria - while you walk in the field, you can stumble across a T34 cupola...

[Theodor]

...or some Pz IV hulls... A dozen of Panthers were bunkerized like this, too - they must be still out there

[Generaldirektor]

What part of Bulgaria is that? Panzer IV and Panthers?? A lot better!!

This is a chance to source souvenir tanks (and hopefully the engines are still intact). Problem is how to get them out of bunkerized state (and if the government permits it) And again, shipping & restoration costs

But then, I fear there could be live mines around that battlefield that I could step on

Jay

[Theodor]

Unfortunately the Pz IV have no engines and no transmissions. These were removed before the tanks were put in the concrete boxes. As far as I know they are somewhere along the Southern border, nests for firing against possible invasion from the direction of Turkey and Greece /put there in the 50's/. Also the guns have been removed from the Panzers about 20 years ago, but yet I would love to have what remains of them in my backyard
As for the Panthers, they were put as bunkers, but noone yet has reported finding them. May be just yet undiscovered, or already scrapped long ago, or still in a closed military zone near the border.

[Tommaso]

Unfortunately the Pz IV have no engines and no transmissions. These were removed before the tanks were put in the concrete boxes. As far as I know they are somewhere along the Southern border, nests for firing against possible invasion from the direction of Turkey and Greece /put there in the 50's/. Also the guns have been removed from the Panzers about 20 years ago, but yet I would love to have what remains of them in my backyard
As for the Panthers, they were put as bunkers, but noone yet has reported finding them. May be just yet undiscovered, or already scrapped long ago, or still in a closed military zone near the border.

But used from the bulgarian army or german one(the panthers)???
The pathers were bunkerized by fritz??

Thanks,
Tom

[Theodor]

No, not German. In the late months of WWII, after Bulgaria was invaded by the Red Army and the Bulgarian army was sent to finght against the German forces on the Balkans, the USSR deliverd 15 Panther tanks to the Bulgarian Armored Brigade. These were trophies. The Bulgarians trained with these tanks, but never used them for combat. They were used until the late 40's, early 50's. On a training one burned and I do not know if it was repaired or not. Later /late 40's and the 50's/ many tanks were burried as firing bunkers along the Southern border, against Greece and Turkey. This including all those Panthers, some Pz-4 and some T-34. This was done by the commie Bulgarian army.

[Generaldirektor]

Hmmm, maybe I'll try to find those Panthers & Panzer IV's then have them displayed in my garden (I wish so in the not so distant future ) Perhaps I can bring a metal detector

But I was thinking, at present, does the Bulgarian army still has any Panthers or Panzer IV's left in their arsenal? (even for display or training purposes only?) Maybe I could buy one for a junk price of $500

Jay

[Theodor]

Unfortunately not All the Panthers went to become bunkers, many Pz-4 went to bunkers, too, the remaining Pz-4 stayed on service until ran out of spares and were one by one scrapped, probably till the late 50's. There is one left in the Military museum here in Sofia, but it is hull only, nothing inside.
There are still T-34 in the army. I've heard some were used as target tugs as late as only 5-6 years ago. Probably some are still in running condition. Well, I don't think they are Soviet WWII, rather they are Czech postwar production, but still they are T-34... In the military museum there are both Soviet WWII and Czech postwar T-34 tanks. I think there are such tanks use as monuments in some military bases, too.
As for other equipment, recently saw some photos of 3-axis Steyr truck, Opel Blitz, Phanomen ambulance, Volkswagen KDF, Zis-5 and other babies, kept at a military base as a small historical display. All they are indoors in huge garages, put on bricks, usually oiled and serviced They are in fact a kind of military reserve, hypothetically ready to be used at war!

[TMurray]

Theodor, great photos...I want one too!!

[Theodor]

The truth is out there!!!

[Theodor]

...and the Panzers are still out there, too