Japanese Ha-Go tank conservation Australian War Memorial

[Mike Cecil]

.....and thanks to John Belfield for rescuing it from the scrappie, and the curator who negotaiated the purchase for the AWM, and the movements staff who handled the (delicate) task of getting it from Melbourne to Canberra, and the curatorial staff who tracked down original and replica parts from around the world and managed to have them imported. And all that even before the conservators had finished cleaning the little gem!

The conservation task was/is massive: the tank had been subject to anti-tank mine experiments in Australia during 1943, so suspension arms and armour plates were cracked, bent, broken, or missing, same with road wheels. Many parts, particularly internal, were missing. Then there was the years of neglect sitting in a certain yard in Coburg, before John obtained it for the Melbourne Tank Museum.

Good news is that the AWM collection already held the original type of machine gun with the folding stock that fits the Ha Go.

It was a significant addition to the AWM's national collection, given its history and capture during the pivotal battle at Milne Bay. Despite the years in the open, some of the names and numbers of service pers who scratched their names in the paintwork are still visible.

Mike C