Here is this week’s challenge for “What is it Wednesday?” - a close up of something in the museum or our collection for you to guess what it is in the comments!![]()
![]()
What is it?! We are looking for what it might be part of within the museum and, for more of a challenge, what the exact part is and what it does! ![]()
![]()
Thanks to everyone who played last week… the answer for August 28 was a ballistic computing cam in the Kommandogarat 40 fire control computer… see the previous post for the full details!![]()
![]()
Good luck on this week’s challenge! ![]()
![]()
#americanheritagemuseum #historymuseum #visitma
The answer to the “What is it? Wednesday” question of August 28th is one of the ballistic cams used in the German Kommandogerät 40 that is part of the anti-aircraft battery exhibit in the Defense of the Reich gallery. The Kommandogerät (“command device”) is a fire control computer that used a combination of optics and mechanical computing to develop a firing solution that would be relayed to the anti-aircraft gun crews, like the 8.8 cm Flak 36 German 88 mm anti-aircraft cannon we have displayed. What is pictured is a solid computing cam that, when combined with precision gears connected to rollers on follower arms, could solve multivariate calculus problems in real-time to provide accurate fire to track bomber formations and time shells to detonate at precise altitudes. There are a number of these cams within the Kommandogerät 40 and combined they made a powerful mechanical analog computer that made Flak the most dangerous defensive weapon against daylight precision bombing. ![]()
![]()
Stay tuned for the next “What is it? Wednesday” later today! ![]()
#americanheritagemuseum #whatisitwednesday
Join us for a great 5K run around the American Heritage Museum grounds this Saturday, September 7th in support of the Travis Manion Foundation. We invite you to run, walk, or ruck to honor our nation’s first responders who selflessly sacrificed on September 11th and service members who have served in the wars since. Join us to raise awareness and honor the fallen. Participants get a 50% admission discount to the American Heritage Museum. For more information and to register see: www.travismanion.org/events/911-heroes-run/2024-bostonnew-england-ma/
The American Heritage Museum not only honors those who served in the service of the United States, but we also honor those who served with our allies during all wars and conflicts. Because of this, we’d like to take a moment in honor of Polish Aviation Day on August 28th, to highlight the story of Stefania Wojtulanis-Karpińska, a female pilot of the Polish Air Force at the outbreak of WWII. After the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939, she evacuated to Romania with the Polish Air Force and made her way to France where she once again had to flee in 1940 as France fell. She made her way to England and was assigned to the Polish Air Force Headquarters in London until later in 1940. In January 1941, she and Anna Leska became the first two Polish women pilots to join the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), which delivered aircraft to operational units from factories and ferry aircraft for maintenance. This role, very similar to that assigned to female WASP pilots in America, required pilots to learn and fly a wide variety of aircraft types in all sorts of weather and mecahnical conditions.![]()
![]()
As it turns out, the American Heritage Museum’s Supermarine Spitfire IX, BR601 was one of the aircraft that Wojtulanis-Karpińska flew in her career with the ATA. On July 9, 1942, she ferried BR601 from Prestwick, Scotland to its first operational unit, 64 Squadron at Hornchurch, Essex, stopping in three places in poor weather before arriving on July 11th. The photo in this post is her in BR601 and her logbook entries of those flights!![]()
![]()
74 years later, BR601 would fly once again after a full restoration by Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar and arrive shortly after in the United States to join the collection of the Collings Foundation. Though not currently on display at the American Heritage Museum, Spitfire BR601 is maintained in flying condition and is stored off site to fly at events. The next event it will be taking part in will be Green Mountain Aviation Field Days in Burlington, VT on September 14-15, 2024. Eventually, when our expansion is built, BR601 will be displayed at the AHM.![]()
![]()
#polishaviation #wwii #spitfire #supermarinespitfire #worldwarii #femaleaviator
Here is this week’s challenge for “What is it Wednesday?” - a close up of something in the museum or our collection for you to guess what it is in the comments!![]()
![]()
This one might be a little more challenging! What is it?! We are looking for what it might be part of inside the museum and what exactly it might be for even more challenge!![]()
![]()
Thanks to everyone who played last week… the answer for August 21 was the crew compartment of the Daimler Mk.I Dingo scout car in the Pacific War Gallery. The Dingo was used in Burma by the 16th Light Calvary of the British Indian Army armored car regiment.![]()
![]()
#americanheritagemuseum #historymuseum #visitma
Drive the Famous Iconic Movie Star Medium Tank of WWII
The American Heritage Museum is proud to offer exciting tank driving experiences in the Spring, Summer, and Fall aboard the M4 Sherman Medium tank used throughout World War II. The M4 Sherman is the iconic tank that was used in all theaters of operations, including the offensive campaign that surged toward Berlin in 1944. This M4 Sherman is also a movie star, being the star of the 1982 movie “Tank” with James Garner.
Tank driving programs on the M4 Sherman are a donation of $1495.00 per driving participant aboard the tank for a one hour training experience that includes ground instruction, startup, driving instruction with our instructor, and YOU drive the M4 Sherman for 20 minutes on our tank driving grounds at the American Heritage Museum. If you would like to add an additional rider in the turret during your driving experience, please add a $195 donation to your booking. Most of the cost of the driving program is considered a tax-deductible contribution.
Watch a Video on the M4 Driving Experience
Book Your M4 Sherman Tank Driving Experience Today!
Tank driving experiences on the M4 Sherman are being offered in the mornings of select weekends through the season. Please click the button below for schedules and online booking. We can also accommodate custom tank driving slots during weekdays when available – call us at 978-562-9182 to inquire about weekday driving reservations.
For safety, all driving participants should be 16 years of age or older and be at least 5′ 2″ tall and have good physical strength to drive. Any additional riders in the turret must be at least 5′ tall to ride. Children under the age of 14 should be accompanied by an adult in the turret if they meet the height requirement.
Gift Certificates Available
Looking to give a tank driving experience as a gift? We have presentation gift certificates available for gift giving to the tank enthusiast in your family! Tank Driving Gift Certificates are open ended and allow the recipient to schedule their own driving experience at their convenience. Click here to learn more about and purchase an M4 Sherman Tank Driving Experience Gift Certificate at this link.
History of the M4 Sherman
One of the most produced tanks of WWII, the M4 Sherman saw its debut storming across the hot sands of North Africa in 1942, and went on to see combat in every theater. M4s could be seen everywhere, from the island-hopping campaigns in the Pacific to the dangerous hedgerows of Normandy, even fighting in the steppes of the Eastern Front. Packing a 75mm main cannon, the M4 was a strong and reliable tank on the battlefield. Through progressive upgrades the M4 remained the definitive Allied tank throughout the Second World War and into Korea. Loved by crews for its ease of use and maintenance, the M4 Sherman remains a symbol of the Liberation of Europe and a testament to the bravery of the crews that fought in them.
SPECIFICATIONS
Armament: 75mm M3 Cannon, one .50 cal. MG and 2x .30 cal. MGs.
Crew: 5, Commander, Gunner, Driver, Loader, Co-Driver.
Engine: 450 Horsepower Ford GAA, 1,100 cubic inch V-8
Range: 130 miles
