Hetzer - AAR
Good day,
There is no existing written record or After Action Report (AAR) on the Hetzer restoration. All that can be said is this: The Hetzer restoration was abruptly terminated circa 2005 when the Base commander at the time ordered the WW2 era hanger which was housing the project to be torn down. This was done to reduce base operation expenses and reduce what is called PILT (Property in lieu of Taxes). This is an amount the base must pay the township for every building that it has standing in lieu of municipal taxes since technically, DND does not pay taxes to the township of Essa.
This was outside the museum and the restoration team's power. The restoration project had only a few weeks to react and put an end to its operations... There was a lot of bitterness and resentment since the team was in its 7th year of work at the time.
On a brighter side, a month ago the Hetzer has been moved indoors to prevent an further decay. It is co-located with the Flakpanzer. There is no plan to restore it now but by keeping it indoors we are preventing further decay to some Farley Mowat's legacy.
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