Ordnance Museum? what’s an Ordnance?
- mounted guns; artillery.” the gun was a brand new piece of ordnance”
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a branch of the armed forces dealing with the supply and storage of weapons, ammunition, and related equipment.“The ordnance corps”
It Was at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG)
The Ordnance Museum held a prominent location within Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The proving grounds were established in 1917 to test the equipment, armaments, and materiel utilized by the United States Army.
Long before what John Michael calls “Operation Lockdown” that has made it very challenging to access any United States military facility, a road trip was planned to explore this wonderful storehouse of history that contained within and without – surrounding among the fields about the building examples of both United States and foreign armament. The museum building itself was not large enough to contain all of the armament, armor, and artillery that surrounded it … mostly in fields behind the building.
An M5 to Greet Me!
How serendipitous! There on display was in all its gloriest drab olive-colored paint a World War II-era M5 3″ antitank gun . The same gun used by the Presidential Salute Battery – the elite unit of the 3d Infantry – The Old Guard! What a nice surprise, for the only M5 guns that I had seen until that time were painted in Shiny black and silver and used in ceremonies in and around Washington DC.
During World War II 2,500 of these M5 guns were produced by the Vilter Manufacturing Company in Wisconsin.
From what was painted on the trail, it appears that this gun was produced in March 1945, and given the serial number 0781
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8 pages of full-color illustrations depicting 14 different vehicles.
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Bradley Fighting Vehicle:
The US Army’s Combat-Proven Fighting Platform,
1981–2021 (LandCraft) Paperback – June 29, 2021
The M5’s World War II-era sighting apparatus
2009 SEP 02 Presidential Salute Battery at ANC
The acres of Arlington National Cemetery often are filled with the thunder of the M5s when the Presidential Salute Battery carries out a mission where they are “Often Heard, But Rarely Seen” … In this case Seen Up close and personal! ENJOY!
NEXT TIME…
A look inside the US Army Ordnance Museum and some of the special artifacts that were there before the museum was closed and redeployed to Fort Lee, Virginia
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OVER 200 HISTORICAL IMAGES, MAPS & ILLUSTRATIONS
The book, Images of America – Fort Lesley J. McNair contains over two hundred historical photographs, images, and illustrations that chronicle the two hundred plus years of history among the acres of this US Army Post.
The book “Images of America – Fort Lesley J McNair” is “a walk down memory lane” as one reader called it after he turned the last page. Go beyond
Images of America – Fort Lesley J. McNairLesley J. McNair augment the website and read more of the history with your own copy – BUY THE BOOK offers the opportunity to get either a personalized & autographed copy from the author or purchase the book from one of the major resellers.
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