Canadian War Museum honoured for outstanding collection of historic military vehicles

Ottawa, Ontario, November 28, 2012 — The Canadian War Museum is proud to have received the 2012 Jacques Littlefield Award for Preservation and Education Excellence, awarded by the Military Vehicle Preservation Association. This honour is bestowed annually on an institution or organization whose efforts significantly raise the understanding and appreciation of historic military vehicles. Previous Jacques Littlefield Award recipients include the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the United States and The Tank Museum in Bovington, England.

“We are honoured the Military Vehicle Preservation Association has acknowledged our ongoing efforts to restore and safeguard the vehicles we have in our National Collection,” said James Whitham, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. “We put tremendous effort into restoring and preserving our incredible collection of tanks, armoured vehicles and other military equipment.”

The Jacques Littlefield Award is named for the founder of the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, one of the world’s largest private collections of armoured military vehicles. Mr. Littlefield passed away in 2009. Recipients of the award are recognized for uncompromising attention to detail in the preservation, restoration and display of vehicles and artifacts, including historical accuracy and context, quality of craftsmanship, and an environment that is comfortably accessible for learning, conducive to historians, researchers and enthusiasts, and respects and protects the historical value and integrity of vehicles and artifacts.

These qualities are evident in the Museum’s LeBreton Gallery, a vast space where visitors can wander freely among the Museum’s collection of diverse vehicles, artillery and other large artifacts that tell the personal stories of war, from the 18th century to the present. Highlights include:

• An M1917 Six-Ton Tank, used to train members of the newly formed Canadian Armoured Corps at Camp Borden (now Canadian Forces Base Borden), during the Second World War. Acquired in very poor condition in 1998 by the Museum, it is one of only two known to exist in Canada. It was recently restored and unveiled for public display in August 2012.
• A 1944 German Panzer V Panther tank that was displayed in V-E Day celebrations in Ottawa on May 8, 1945 and had remained on exhibition outside at CFB Borden since the late 1940s. After its acquisition in 2005, the vehicle underwent extensive restoration and was placed back in public view in 2008.
• A Bombardier Iltis light utility vehicle driven by Canadian Peacekeepers ambushed in Croatia on New Year’s Eve, 1994. The vehicle sustained over 100 bullet strikes in the attack that resulted in severe injuries to both crew members. The still damaged vehicle was returned to Canada in 1995 and was subsequently transferred to the museum for preservation and public display.

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association is an international historic military vehicle group whose aim is to promote, preserve, restore, share, and enjoy historic military transport with other enthusiasts and the general public. It has about 8,000 members and nearly 100 affiliate organizations around the world.

The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada’s military history in its personal, national, and international dimensions.

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