Militracks 2012 – Overloon, The Netherlands


German Sd.Kfz 10 Halftrack

On Saturday May 19 2012 we visited Militracks at the Liberty Park museum in Overloon.It was really a beautiful day .
We started out at Ysselsteyn, here are buried more than 31.000 soldier from the German army. But that’s a topic on its own.

Militracks is an annual event, a little special though.
First at this event you will find only German vehicles from the second World war.
Well almost, this year a T-34 was at the scene as well
Second all vehicles are in driving condition.
Third, and this is exceptional, they will ride and you can hop on, for a small fee, and enjoy a round or two on a vehicle which is more than 70 years old.
The latter gives Militracks a real edge above other world war two events that we attended so far.
This year they showed; multiple jeeps, amongst them Kübelwagens, Swimmwagens a Stoewer jeep and Horches. Halftrack, like the Sd.Kfz 7 – 10 – 250 & 251, all drove around the perimeter.
Sd.Kfz. 7 – Krauss-Maffei 8 ton German Halftrack
Sd.Kfz. 7 – Krauss-Maffei 8 ton German Halftrack

Three tanks attended the event, a panzerkampfwagen 38t by Skoda, a genuine panzerkampfwagen Hetzer, not a Swiss G13, and a huge T-34-85 drove with its fuming diesel engine through the woods.

T-34-85 Russische middelzware tank
It is a lovely experience to watch the vehicles drive through the course and to hear the sounds of all the engines. The event’s organisers laid out a beautiful course through the museum woods, with nice heigth differences and fast curves.
This third Militracks event had a special touch. They tried to break the Guinness book of records with the most driving Kettenkraftrads in one place. From all the way back to world war two, no event had so much Kettenkraftrads together in one place.
Sd.Kfz. 2 Kettenkraftrad
The attempt succeeded with the first try, with 17 Kettenkraftrads they drove in a column on Saturday the 19th of May through the woods.
One Kettenkraftrad was towed by another, I don’t think this one will count add up in the record.
It was beautiful to see al the vehicles, a must see for the fans.
One remark though, if you want to ride on a tank or a halftrack be sure to come early.
From 11 hours in the morning all seats were booked. The gates opened at 10!
There were enough seats available on the jeeps and Kettenkraftrads though.
Sd.Kfz. 251 & Sd.Kfz. 250 Halftracks
We took a ride with a Kettenkraftrad, it was a great experience.
The halftrack in front of us broke down, so we ended up behind the T-34-85 tank.
This beast put up a smokescreen with its exhaust fumes on the course in front of us.
We had a lovely day and a great experience, a must see for the whole family. Below are some photo’s from the event.
Look at our Youtube site as well, more of our movies can be seen here.
Sd.Kfz. 7 – Krauss-Maffei 8t Halftrack - photo 2013
Sd.Kfz. 7 – Krauss-Maffei 8t Halftrack – photo 2013
Jagdpanzer 38(t) – Hetzer – Sd.Kfz. 1382 – Leichter Panzerjäger 38(t) (pic 2012)
Jagdpanzer 38(t) – Hetzer – Sd.Kfz. 1382 – Leichter Panzerjäger 38(t) (pic 2012)
Horch
An American soldier attacks an unwary icecream… See it tremble with fear !!

We made some movie during the day: Link to the movies on the Landmarkscout Tube

Visit

Militracks is a once a year festival focussed on World War Two German vehicles. Check out the Website for information on oorlogsmuseum.nl.

Dont forget that there is another festival named Santa Fe, this one is focused on Allied Vehicles.


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