I’d been thinking about writing a novel based on a short story I’d written late last year and recently just sold to Fictionvale Magazine this past November. Over the past month, I’ve used National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) as a means to jumpstart this novel. In the process of writing the novel, which takes place in World War II, I’ve frequently struggled with trying to imagine what it was really like to be on one of the armored vehicles of the period, and that’s after accounting for my extensive experience on modern tanks as a cavalry officer in the United States Army.

Fortunately, I had the opportunity to visit the world’s largest private collection of armored vehicles this past weekend on Jacques Littlefield’s estate in Portola Valley before it is shuttered and its collection scattered to the four winds. Apparently, my tour group was one of the last to see the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation‘s full $30 million collection before it transfers some of its pieces to a museum in Stow, Massachusetts and auctions off the remainder to private collectors.

Below are some pictures of World War II tanks, anti-tank guns, and armored vehicles from Littlefield’s collection. At some point in the future, I plan to post pictures of some of the more modern equipment (e.g., T-72 tank, SCUD-A and SCUD-B missile launchers, among others), but I wanted to keep this post focused on World War II.

Enjoy!

German Vehicles

Panzer V: Panther Tank

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

Panzer IV

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

Panzer I

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

8.8cm Flugabwehrkanone Flak 41

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

Soviet Vehicles

T-34

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

T-34/85

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

45mm Anti-Tank Gun

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

American Vehicles

M4A1 Sherman/Grizzly I

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

M4A3(105)HVSS Sherman

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

©2014 Reflections of a Rational Republican

Buy my first complete anthology at Amazon or Smashwords. It includes ten stories about cursed alien artifacts, interstellar investment banking, ancient alien astronauts, parallel timelines, alien experimentation, and space colonization gone horribly wrong.

First published in venues like Fictionvale Magazine, NewMyths.com, Mad Scientist Journal, Plasma Frequency Magazine, Outposts of Beyond, and The Colored Lens, several of these stories have received Honorable Mentions in the prestigious Writers of the Future Contest.