World War II Victory Museum, Auburn, Indiana

I remember reading in an old issue of the late and lamented Wheels and Tracks about some of the magnificent military vehicle museums in Europe, including the World War II Victory Museum in Arlon, Belgium. That was a museum that I was determined to see sometime in my life. Then, a few years ago, I heard rumours of a major military vehicle museum opening up in Auburn, Indiana. Incredibly, it turned out that the World War II Victory Museum in Arlon had closed up, and most of the collection had been sold and was being moved to the new museum in Indiana! I cannot describe how happy it made me to have the museum come to me (more or less) instead of me having to cross the Atlantic to visit this museum. Planning a trip to Indiana is a lot less daunting for me than planning a trip to Belgium.

The museum is housed in an impressive building alongside the Kruse Automotive and Carriage Museum, a car museum that is definitely worth visiting as well. Among the gems in that collection are some classic pop culture vehicles, including the Batmobile from the 1989 film, the A-Team's van, K*I*T*T from Knight Rider, as well as a number of Carl Casper's amazing concept cars (it's like seeing full-scale Revell models!) and some exquisite examples of 1930s Auburns, Duesenbergs, and the like. Across the Interstate is the main auction house for the Kruse International automotive auction house, where the annual military vehicle auction and Second World War reenactment is held (Dean Kruse, owner of the auction company, is also the founder of the museum and the person responsible for the Arlon collection coming to the United States). This is certainly an event worth taking in if possible.

But back to the museum proper and its collection. Amazingly, in one of the largest military museums I have ever been to, there are no tanks whatsoever in the collection, and very few tracked armoured vehicles at all (an M18 Hellcat tank destroyer and a Marder III Ausf. M are the closest things to tanks there). However, there are plenty of other Second World War vehicles on display - neraly 200 of all types and sizes, from motorcycles to the mighty M26 Dragon Wagon.

The scope of the collection allows one to see complete family trees of many types of vehicles, including German halftracks, American 2 1/2 ton trucks, and the Dodge WC series. The German halftracks in particular stand out as one of the largest collections of its type in the world, with a number of Sd.Kfz. 250s and Sd.Kfz. 251s, Opel Maultiers, Sd.Kfz. 6, 8, 10, and 11 prime movers, and two examples of the very rare sWs halftrack.

This is an extraordinarily interesting and well-furnished museum, with the artifacts obviously being well taken care of and a lot of care being put into the (ongoing) development of the exhibits. The breadth and depth of the collection are quite staggeringm and I look forward to seeing it again. Highly recommended as one of the biggest and most interesting military museums in North America.