OTTAWA, ON, July 2, 2025 /CNW/ – The Canadian War Museum is once again boosting its reputation as a centre of expertise for the restoration and display of specialized historical military vehicles, with its acquisition of an M4A2 Sherman Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle (BARV): a type of vehicle important to Canada’s D-Day story.
This BARV hull was donated by The Tank Museum in the United Kingdom. It is one of only five such vehicles known to exist, and will become the sole Sherman BARV on display in North America. Its transportation to Canada is due to the generous support of the Friends of the Canadian War Museum.
“The War Museum is one of the only institutions in Canada with the expertise to fully restore these types of complex military vehicles,” said James Whitham, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. “We are excited to be able to bring this into our collection and begin the painstaking restoration of this rare vehicle, which will help us tell the story of Canada’s involvement in the Normandy landings and subsequent beach operations.”
This is a unique and rare example of a specialized armoured vehicle developed for amphibious landings. BARVs would prove vital to Canadian and Allied success on June 6, 1944, during the D-Day landings at Juno Beach and elsewhere. These vehicles could operate in water up to 3 metres (9 feet) deep and helped move vehicles blocking the beaches that had either broken down or had been damaged by enemy fire. Sherman BARVs were also used during the Rhine River crossing in March 1945, and remained in British military service until 1963. The precise involvement of this particular BARV on D-Day is still being researched.
“Whilst unique in our collection, this vehicle was not used by the Royal Armoured Corps, which means The Tank Museum is not the best home for it. We are therefore delighted to be able to donate it to our partners at the Canadian War Museum, so it can be restored and put on display,” said Chris van Schaardenburgh, Vehicle Collections Manager at The Tank Museum. “Only a handful of Sherman BARVs are known to survive; two of these are on display in the UK. It is therefore hugely significant that we share this vehicle, once used on the beaches of Normandy, with Canada.”
The vehicle was originally recovered from a firing range on Salisbury Plain in southern England, and has been preserved at The Tank Museum since 2009. The Canadian War Museum plans to restore it for eventual display in the LeBreton Gallery. It will join the Museum’s impressive collection of 200 military vehicles in that space, vividly illustrating Canada’s rich military history.
Due to the extent of restoration required, it will be several years before the BARV is ready for public display.
The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada’s military history in its personal, national and international dimensions.
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SOURCE Canadian War Museum
