Lost Tanks (Tank Graveyard), Germany

Lost Tanks is a tank graveyard located in western Germany sitting within a 220-hectare site was once an armed forces training area and firing range. These now abandoned tanks were once used as “hard targets” for artillery practice. Some of the site still used for military exercises and training. The forest is no longer used as a firing range, only as an armoured vehicle driver training area.

From artillery range target, to lost tanks inside a nature reserve

Nowadays, most of this huge site is a thriving nature reserve. Firstly much of the area was placed under ecological protection in 1975. Since the mid-2000s, the designated nature reserve area occupies around 75% of the former military site. As a result this large area now provides a home to many rare European flora and fauna species. There are woodlands, as well as floodplain pastures and drier heathland/shrublands.

Moist pastures surround one of the lost tanks. Small ponds have formed in the scars and furrows left by tank tracks. These provide havens for rare aquatic life. Another abandoned tank is surrounded by a forest of spruce and pine. The floor littered with their deciduous needles. Nearby there is another tank, photogenically standing in front of a beech and oak woodland.

Panzerwrack – Lost Tanks in the forest

We visited the tank graveyard in the winter of 2017, during a tour of Belgium and Germany. At this time, we visited 4 tanks at this location. These include one abandoned M41 Walker Bulldog and three ceased M47 Patton Tank.

M41 Walker Bulldog Tank

Key facts about M41 Walker Bulldog Tank;

• Manufacturer – Cadillac, America (1951-54)
• Class – Light tank
• Role – Armed reconnaissance, also close infantry support
• Length – 5.81m
• Crew – 4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
• Primary armament – 76mm M41 rifled cannon
• Secondary armament – .30 caliber Browning M1919A4 machine gun, or, .50 caliber Browning M2 roof-mounted machine gun

The M41 Walker Bulldog is primarily an armed reconnaissance tank. The American-built machines were built by Cadillac between 1951 and 1954. “Light tank” weighs in at a mere 23.5 tonnes. These tanks were specifically designed to replace the ageing WW2 Chaffe tanks of the United States Army. These postwar American tanks were exported in large numbers, engaging in worldwide service.

These were the first postwar tanks adopted by the Bundeswehr, which explains how it arrived in this tank graveyard. During the 1950s and the early 1960s M41 Walker Bulldog tanks formed their cure armed reconnaissance vehicles. Eventually, by the mid-1960s, the Bundeswehr retired these light tanks in favour of the heavier M48 Patton and Leopard 1.

M47 Patton Tank

Key facts about M47 Patton Tank;

• Designed – Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant
• Manufacturer – American Locomotive Company (1951-1954)
• Class – Main battle tank
• Role – Tank destroyer, infantry support, assault gun
• Length – 8.51m
• Crew – 5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, assistant driver)
• Primary armament – 90mm M36 gun
• Secondary armament – .Two .30 caliber Browning M1919A4 machine gun, one .50 caliber Browning M2 roof-mounted machine gun.

The M47 Patton is an American-made main battle tank (MBT). These tanks were designed by the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, and then manufactured by the American Locomotive Company in the early 1950s. The M47 Patton was used by many countries, especially NATO and SEATO allies.

The German Bundeswehr used some M47 Patton tanks in the 1950s. These were subsequently replaced by the Raketenjagdpanzer 1; a tank destroyer armed with twin-mounted SS-11 anti-tank guided missile launchers.