Conservation work stopped when engineers at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, United Kingdom, discovered a live bullet that had lain undisturbed for over 80 years. Workshop staff were surprised to discover the ordinance when a panel was removed inside a World War II-era tank during routine maintenance.
The German-built Panzer III was in the workshop ahead of its appearance in the arena at Tiger Day this coming April. Technician Aaron Cruse said, “As a running vehicle, the Panzer III regularly undergoes servicing and maintenance in the workshop. We thought we knew every nook and cranny – so to find a live round inside is still a bit of a surprise, even though we know the history of the vehicle.”
The Tank Museum’s Panzer III is an early production Panzer III Ausf. L – modified for “tropical” service. It was captured by the British in 1942, and it’s believed to have fought at the Battle of Alam el Halfa in Egypt. It had been restored in the 1990s, during which time empty bullet cases and even desert sand were recovered from within.
The bullet is a 7.92 x 57 mm Mauser round, of the sort fired by the German MG 34 machine gun. The tank had three fitted. Ammunition of this age can be unstable and potentially dangerous, but the team had been trained in the safe handling and removal of such finds. The round has been deactivated and stored in the museum’s Object Collection as another piece of the vehicle’s history.
“Not unlike the chunk of shrapnel we found lodged in the Tiger tank last year – a find like this is a reminder that this isn’t just a vehicle, but an important piece of history,” Cruse said. “A bullet is designed for one purpose. It’s a sober reminder of what tanks like this were built for, of the regime that built them and the courage of the those that defeated them.”
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The Tank Museum’s Panzer III is one of 6,140 built between 1940-42, and one of just two maintained in running condition. It’ll be in action in the Tank Museum arena alongside the world’s only running Tiger I tank at Tiger Day on April 18.