Tanks for the memories

Interesting, a hundred years after the first deployment of tanks on the battlefield, a museum in Normandy has had to close, and in the process has auctioned off its inventory of uniforms, guns, vehicles, planes and equipment.

Which included two Sherman tanks.

The Tank Museum was only open for about three years. They say it was the downturn in the economy coupled with lower tourism following multiple terrorist attacks in Paris that forced it to shut its doors.

The Cadillac M5 A1 tank went for €230,000; the Chrysler M4A for €280,000. A BMW motorcycle that saw service in the Afrika Korps fetched €130,000. And a 1943 Harley Davidson motorcycle brought in €54,000.

All these headliners sold for much more than their estimated price, which was good news for Patrick Nerrant, an ex-Air France pilot, who built the collection and the museum, starting with a WWII plane he restored himself. He also restored the tanks, all nine of them, which were in working condition as of the weekend.

All told, the auction brought in €3.8 million ($4.2 million). No mention so far as to who the buyers are, or what they plan on doing with the tanks (or any of the rest of the kit).

According to NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley, Nerrant “kept a couple” of tanks for himself. But with the closing of the museum, he’s retiring.