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The War Museum Cambodia is located at Siem Reap in Cambodia, near National Highway No. 6 between the city of Siem Reap and the International Airport. The purpose of this museum is to keep the memory of the civil war in the history of Cambodia alive and to preserve the unique collection for posterity.
2001 – Start
In February 2001 the Siem Reap War Museum was built on more than 2 hectares of land, just off National Road 6 between the airport and the city center of Siem Reap.
2008 – Visits drop off
For 12 years the Siem Reap War Museum was neglected and deteriorating rapidly. The museum was facing a battle to stay open in the face of mass desertion by tourists: visitor numbers had dwindled to about 20 a day.
2013 – New beginning
In 2013 a new general manager (Mr R.S. Esselaar) was appointed and the name of the museum was changed from Siem Reap War Museum into War Museum Cambodia. Although the museum was badly damaged by a powerful small tornado on 18 May 2015, over the years many improvements were made and new visitor records were achieved.
2016 – Rebuilding
In 2016 the rebuilding of the whole museum had started, beginning with the new Landmine House in the back of the museum which was finally opened in 2018.
The War Museum Cambodia has a unique collection of weaponry, mostly located outside below a mango tree plantation. The collection was gathered since 1999 from areas where fighting took place; like Anlong Veng, Siem Reap and Odor Meanchey. It is a mix of Chinese, U.S. and Soviet hardware, but mostly Russian tanks and assault weapons. Some of these weapons have even seen action during World War II.
The museums collection was partly equipment which was sold for scrap metal prices. For a scrap-metal tank $300 to $400 would be paid. Competition from scrap dealers was not the only problem the museum faced as it gathered its collection: most of the machinery was very heavy and it was difficult to gain access to dense jungle areas to remove tanks, guns and personnel carriers.
Over the years the collection was supplemented by Western private individuals like military collector Geoffrey Oldham, furthermore some artifacts were given to the museum by the General Manager (Mr R.S. Esselaar) who found some of these artifacts during visits to several remote villages.
To preserve the unique collection for posterity Project Preservation was launched in 2015. Certain artifacts were brought back in the original state, other artifacts were restored.
There is a vast array of vehicles, artillery and other equipment on display. You can see Russian tanks (T-54 and T-55), a MiG-19 jet fighter aircraft, a large Mil Mi-8 helicopter, a 85-mm field artillery gun and a D-44 divisional gun. Many of the vehicles have battle damage. There are also many assault rifles, like the ubiquitous AK-47, landmines, claymore anti personnel mines, etc. There is a broad range of uniforms, flags as well as rare photographs from the war period on display.
An armoured fighting vehicle or armored fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, assault guns, self-propelled artilleries, infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), and armoured personnel carriers (APC).
An assault gun is a type of self-propelled artillery which uses an infantry support gun mounted on a motorized chassis, normally an armored fighting vehicle, which are designed to provide direct fire support for infantry attacks, especially against other infantry or fortified positions. Assault guns were pioneered by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany during the 1930s, initially being self-propelled guns with direct fire in mind, with Germany introducing the first purpose-built assault gun, the Sturmgeschütz III, in 1940.
The 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41 is a German 88 mm anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun, developed in the 1930s. It was widely used by Germany throughout World War II and is one of the most recognized German weapons of the conflict. The gun was universally known as the Acht-acht ("eight-eight") by the Germans and the "eighty-eight" by the Allies. Due to its lethality, especially as a tank killer, the eighty-eight was greatly feared by Allied soldiers.
Battambang is a province of Cambodia in the far northwest of the country. Bordering provinces are Banteay Meanchey to the north, Pursat to the east and south, Siem Reap to the northeast, and Pailin to the west. The northern and southern extremes of the province's western boundaries form part of the international border with Thailand. In addition, Tonlé Sap forms part of the northeastern boundary between Siem Reap and Pursat. Its capital and largest city is Battambang.
Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. Canister shot has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies. However, canister shot saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various wars of the 18th and 19th century. Canister is still used today in modern artillery.
The 76-mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3) was a Soviet 76.2 mm divisional field gun used during World War II. ZiS was a factory designation and stood for Zavod imeni Stalina, the honorific title of Artillery Factory No. 92, which first constructed this gun.
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Aki Ra is a former Khmer Rouge conscripted child soldier who works as a deminer and museum curator in Siem Reap, Cambodia. He has devoted his life to removing landmines in Cambodia and to caring for young landmine victims. Aki Ra states that since 1992 he has personally removed and destroyed as many as 50,000 landmines, and is the founder of the Cambodian Landmine Museum.
Siem Reap is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia.
The United States Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC), at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, is the U.S. Army's primary historical research facility. Formed in 1999 and reorganized in 2013, the center consists of the Military History Institute (MHI), the Army Heritage Museum (AHM), the Historical Services Division (HSD), Visitor and Education Services (VES), the U.S. Army War College Library, and Collections Management (CM). The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center is part of the United States Army War College, but has its own 56-acre (230,000 m2) campus.
The Royal Cambodian Air Force is the branch of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces which is charged with operating all military aircraft in Cambodia.
The Royal Cambodian Army is a part of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. It has ground forces which numbered 85,000 divided into eleven divisions of infantry, with integrated armour and artillery support. The Royal Army is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defence.
The War Museum of Thessaloniki is a military museum in Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece.
The Vietnam Military History Museum, set up on 17 July 1956, is one of seven national museums in Vietnam. It covers 12,800 m2. It is situated in central Hanoi, opposite the Lenin Park and near the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The Flag Tower of Hanoi is located inside of the museum grounds.
Cambodian Cultural Village was a theme park and cultural museum in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was located on road no. 6, three kilometres (1.9 mi) from the airport, six kilometres (3.7 mi) from the town and five kilometres (3.1 mi) from the famous Angkor Wat temple complex.
The Minnesota Military & Veterans Museum is the principal activity of the Military Historical Society of Minnesota (MHSM), a non-profit educational organization chartered to preserve and explain Minnesota’s military history. It is federally recognized as a charitable 501(c)(3) organization. MHSM operates the library, archive and museum as a public–private partnership in cooperation with the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota National Guard. The museum, which is open to the general public year-round, is located a few blocks inside the main gate at Camp Ripley, a state-owned 53,000 acres military training center located on the Mississippi River just north of Little Falls in central Minnesota. The museum's mission encompasses all branches of service as well as the home front and is certified by the United States Army Center of Military History and the U.S. Air Force.
Artisans Angkor is a Cambodian social business creating job opportunities for young people in rural areas, while reviving traditional Khmer craftsmanship.
The Cambodian Landmine Museum and Relief Facility is a museum located in Cambodia, south of the Banteay Srey Temple complex, 25 kilometers north of Siem Reap, and inside the Angkor National Park.
Angkor National Museum is an archaeological museum dedicated to the collection, preservation and presentation of Angkorian artifacts, also to provides information and education about art and culture of Khmer civilization, with collections mainly dated from Khmer Empire's Angkor period circa 9th to 14th-century. Most of the artifacts are discovered in and around the Angkor archaeological sites nearby. The museum is located in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on the way between downtown Siem Reap to northern road leading to Angkor ancient city.
