The Manchester area MVT

Tanks in Town, an event held annually to celebrate the liberation of Mons in 1944, is the world’s largest and greatest event of its type.

 It is a largest display of WWII armoured vehicles anywhere.

The event is organised over 3 days over the last weekend of August.

 Friday is arrivals day, with vehicles arriving and unloading all day and various camps being set up in the display area. The display area is a clearing in a forest, just on the outskirts of Mons.

 Saturday is the static display day open to the public. The road outside the camp area is closed to traffic, and used for the trade stands. In the display area, all the vehicles (WWII armoured only) are displayed with no restrictions. In addition there is a course around the camp where the Belgian Army give tank rides (for a cost) on Leopard II, AMX 30, M113, and sometimes a Sherman tank. Health and safety is not an issue there.

Sunday is the real event, a drive of approximately 20 miles around the villages of Mons, starting at about 08.00. Basically the course takes you through various villages, a stop in a nearby town, a very challenging forested off road course, lunch at a battlefield, armoured advance across the field, and finally a drive into the Historic town square of Mons along the actual route taken by the liberating forces in 1944.

All the villagers line the streets welcoming the convoy into their villages as if it was the real liberation, with often wine/beer being offered to the crews. The convoy culminates in the packed town square at approximately 5pm, where the vehicles are rested, and the crews refreshed until about 8pm, when you depart through the town, back to the display area.

This year, the convoy consisted of - 7 Sherman’s, 4 Hellcats, 3 Chaffee’s, 7 Stuarts, a Hetzer, 18 halftracks, 8 M8`s, an M20, Humber armoured car, 2 Kettenkrads, with escort provided by about 25 Harley D`s. Support was provided by a couple of Diamond T wreckers along with a Belgian Army Leopard recovery tank.

There were some casualties along the route - mainly due to the weather (very hot), but most made it unassisted into Mons.

If you have an interest in WWII armour, or want to see WWII armour in action up close, this is the greatest gathering in the world - a show not to be missed

- and yes I have booked for next year !!