Militracks 2012 – Overloon, The Netherlands

On Saturday May 19 2012 we visited Militracks at the War Museum Overloon. It was really a beautiful day. We started out at the War Cemetery in Ysselsteyn, where more than 31.000 fallen soldiers from the German army lie buried. But that’s a topic on its own.

Militracks is an annual event, a little special though, because 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. The second special thing is that all these vehicles are in driving condition. Third, and this is even more exceptional, they will drive around and you can hop on, for a small fee, and enjoy a lap 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 featured; multiple jeeps, amongst them Kübelwagens, Swimmwagens, a Stoewer jeep and Horches. Halftracks, like the Sd.Kfz 7, 10, 250 & 251, all drove around the perimeter.

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.

It is a great 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 height 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 many Kettenkraftrads together in one place.

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 in the record. It was beautiful to see all 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..

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 photos from the event. Please take a look at our Youtube site as well, more of our movies can be seen here.