Quote:
Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh
This story is about the practise of monuments as simple symbols without recognizing that individual tanks have important singular histories of their own. As I recall, a couple of strong personalities thought a tank is a tank is a tank, and Cookie's story in the Netherlands was undervalued when she was relocated to Italy.
Someone wanted a Sherman as a monument, and followed the path of least resistance to get one. By hook and by crook and by Golly, they were going to got themselves a monument. Supposedly that was going to be the end of the story. Can everyone hear the tinkle of ice in drinks behind the chatter of corporate donors, smell the well-perfumed crowd of onlookers, and hear as the conversation moves on to something else? Some people in some circles don't know what they don't know.
Except, unlike art museums and art dealers exchanging expensive paintings as commodities, there are other people who knew and cared more about what Cookie represented than someone getting a tank plonked down in a public place. I am very pleased the Dutch have been able to correct this mistake, and recover their historic piece.
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Terry, well put - but in itself the motives to establish the Ortona memorial were very honest, and it was no mean feat to realise it - see this thread:
http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7443
Sadly, the museum offered the wrong Sherman for this worthy cause: instead of selling an anonymous, but correct type of Sherman, they sold an inccorect type of Sherman and most importantly - a genuine battle relic
To make a long story short,
"Committee Sherman tank Overloon" - a group of local enthusiasts - have corrected the museum management's mistake. First by making sure a proper tank memorial was established in the middle of Overloon village and outside the museum's influence, then they set to work to get Cookie back. They did an amazing job on both tanks
