The Parolan Panssarimuseo, an exceptional armored vehicle museum in Finland

@ElentirENG ES 3·07·2024 · 23:40 0

Finland is a country that has a notable defense culture, due to the circumstances it faced since its independence in 1917.

The three wars of Finland between 1939 and 1945 and its strange situation in WWII
A museum with military vehicles from the WWII and the Cold War in the Czech city of Rokycany

After the Finnish Civil War (1917-1918), which ended with the defeat of the red side, Finland had to face confrontations with Bolshevik Russia. During the Second World War, the country faced three wars: the Winter War (1939-1940), which began with a Soviet invasion and in which Finland had the support of the United Kingdom and France (Germany was then an ally of the USSR); the Continuation War (1941-1944), in which Finland (this time allied with Germany) faced the USSR again; and the Lapland War (1945), which pitted Finland against Germany in its withdrawal from that Nordic country.

Due to changes in alliances during those years, both due to its purchases and its captures in combat, Finland ended up operating different types of battle tanks, including Carden Loyd tanks and tanks. Vickers Mark E of British origin; tanks T-26, T-28, BT-5, BT-7, T-34 and KV-1 of Soviet origin; and Sturmgeschütz III assault guns and Panzer IV tanks of German origin.

Subsequently, and still today, Finland has used armored material of Soviet origin (tanks T-54, T-55 and T-72 and infantry fighting vehicles BMP-1 and BMP-2 and armored transports MT-LB) and also of Western origin (German Leopard 2 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles CV9030 strong> Swedes), in addition to developing its own vehicles, such as the Patria AMV and Patria Sisu armored transports.

Many of these vehicles can be seen at the Parolan Panssarimuseo (Parola Tank Museum), inaugurated on June 18, 1961 in Parola, 110 km north of Helsinki. This museum has excellent facilities that exhibit 60 armored vehicles, 30 anti-tank weapons and an armored train. The museum's collections include a total of 8,000 pieces and 20,000 photographs. This makes it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Finland.

In addition to its excellent collections, which include high-quality historical pieces, this museum keeps a portion of its vehicles active and also organizes historical recreations, which is another incentive to visit it. You can see some of their vehicles below.

Two armored vehicles of Soviet origin, a BA-10 (left) and a BA-20M (right), used by the Finnish Army. The emblem they carry is known in Finland as hakaristi, a type of swastika used by the Finnish Army and Air Force between 1918 and 1945. The insignia had no relation to Nazism (Finland was a democracy at that period), but it was abandoned after the connotations acquired by that symbol in World War II.

A T-28 tank of Soviet origin. A 1933 model.

A German Königstiger heavy tank. This is one of the original prototypes. It has been loaned by The Tank Museum in Bovington, United Kingdom, and is temporarily exhibited by this Finnish museum.

Two T-34-76 tanks of Soviet origin. Known in Finland as "Sotka", these two tanks are part of a war booty made up of 10 T-34s (3 T-34-76 and 7 T-34-85) that were captured by the Finnish Army from the Soviets during the Continuation War. These tanks were improved in Finland. Here we see them decorated with a version of the hakaristi with cut-off arms that was commonly used by Finnish tanks at that time.

A Sturmgeschütz III Ausf G assault gun, used by the Finnish Army during the Continuation War.

A T-54 tank of Soviet origin. Finland purchased a total of 43 T-54s from the USSR, which were received between 1959 and 1961.

A Leopard 2A4 tank (left), of German origin, and a T-72M1 of Soviet origin. Finland bought between 160 and 160 T-72M1 from the USSR in the 1980s, 139 Leopard 2A4 in 2003 to Germany and 100 Leopard 2A6 in 2014 to the Netherlands.

Below these lines, you can see a video from the official YouTube channel of this museum that shows some of the spectacular displays he makes with his armored vehicles:

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Photos: Panssarimuseo.