Roger writes:
EUR7 admission, free parking; open every day except Midsummer and
Christmas week, 10-3 winter, 10-6 summer
History of the Finnish armoured and anti-tank forces - mostly the
former. This substantial museum holds around 40-50 tanks, IFVs and
armoured cars, in two covered halls and a large outdoor area. These
cover the whole of independent Finland's history, from the Renault
F.T. 1979 to the Leopard 2A4 and the home-built XA-360.
One soon spots a theme in the tanks: an awful lot of them were
captured from the Russians during the various conflicts of World War
II, then either put into service at once (sometimes with modified
guns) or decreed unusable and stored. (Finland standardised on
Russian tank guns even on its British-bought tanks, because there
was so much spare ammunition available.) These include on of the
five surviving T-28s.
Because Finland wasn't a manufacturing country, the non-Russian
tanks are mostly British, including quite a few Vickers six-tonners
(and the licence-built Russian copy, the T-26). But there are also
several captured German machines, as well as a BTR-60, a couple of
BMP-1s, and most of the post-war Soviet tank designs up to the T-72,
as Finland was "given" them as part of its armed forces. And then
there's the armoured train...
All items are labelled in Finnish, English, Swedish and Russian.
Uniquely among museums in my experience, a couple of the more modern
vehicles have ladders provided and visitors are encouraged to climb
over them.
One hour would be a rushed visit; 1.5-2 would be better.
If you are in the area, get a joint ticket with the Artillery
Museum, which is only a few miles away.
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