Pivka Park of Military History

The Pivka Park of Military History (Slovene: Park vojaške zgodovine Pivka) is a military museum in the town in Pivka, Slovenia. It is operated jointly by the Municipality of Pivka and the Military Museum of the Slovene Armed Forces.[1]

Advertisement for the Pivka Military History Park with a real tank.

The museum's exhibits date from the late WWII era and the Cold War, the timeframe of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[2][3] The core collection consists of a large number of armored vehicles and artillery; there is also a small aviation collection, with five fixed-wing aircraft and two helicopters.[4] The museum's most popular exhibit is the Zeta, an ex-Yugoslav Una-class infiltration submarine.[5]

History

The complex was built by the Italian army as a frontier barracks during the interwar period, when much of what is presently southwestern Slovenia was part of the Kingdom of Italy. A fortress of the Alpine Wall, built to guard the Italian side of the pre-1941 Rapallo border, is an annex of the museum grounds and is accessible by hiking trail. After WWII, the Pivka barracks were successively inherited by the militaries of Yugoslavia and Slovenia. In 2004, the facility was transferred from the Slovene Ministry of Defense to the Municipality of Pivka, with the understanding that it would be converted into a military museum.[6] The initial exhibit (the tank and artillery pavilion, with exhibits transferred from the Military Museum of the Slovene Armed Forces) opened in September 2006.[7]

Exhibits
Exhibit Origin Manufactured Role Notes
Combat aircraft
F-84G Thunderjet United States1953fighterEx-Yugoslav Air Force, supplied to Yugoslavia after the 1948 Tito-Stalin split. Acquired 2013; the museum's first fixed-wing aircraft placed on display. Formerly a gate guard at Brnik airport.
IF-86D Sabre United Stateslate 1950sfighterEx-Yugoslav Air Force, supplied to Yugoslavia after the 1948 Tito-Stalin split. Uncommon Yugoslav-modified reconnaissance variant. Acquired 2014; formerly a gate guard at Brnik airport.
MiG-21 / Aero S-106 Soviet Union / Czechoslovakia1965fighterEx-Czechoslovak Air Force. License-built version of the MiG-21. Acquired 2011.
IAR-93 Vultur Romania /  Yugoslavia1980sfighter-bomberEx-Romanian Air Force. Joint design with Yugoslav SOKO J-22 Orao. Acquired 2014; gift of Romania.
Supermarine Spitfire F.IX United Kingdom1943fighterpartial wreckage of Royal Air Force fighter, salvaged from the Ljubljana Marshes in 2019
Trainer aircraft
Soko 522 Yugoslavia / Bosnia and Herzegovinalate 1950sbasic trainerEx-Yugoslav Air Force. Unrestored.
Helicopters
Soko Gazela France /  Yugoslavia1979utilityTO-001. Ex-Yugoslav Air Force, ex-Slovenian Air Force. License-built Yugoslav version of the Aérospatiale Gazelle. Acquired 2012; Slovenia's first military aircraft, the pilots having defected from the Yugoslav Air Force during the Ten-Day War.
Mil Mi-8 Soviet UniontransportEx-Polish Air Force. Acquired 2019 in a barter arrangement with the Military Museum of the Polish Armed Forces.
Submarines
Una-class Yugoslavia / Croatia1987special-operations submarineP-913 Zeta. Ex-Yugoslav Navy, ex-Montenegrin Navy. Acquired 2011; gift of Montenegro.
Tanks
M3 Stuart United States1940slight tankEx-Yugoslav People's Army, First Partisan Tank Brigade. Supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII. Examples of M3A1 and M3A3 variants.
M4A3 Sherman United States1940smedium tankEx-Yugoslav People's Army, supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII.
T-34-85 Soviet Union1940smedium tankEx-Yugoslav People's Army, Second Partisan Tank Brigade. Supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII.
SU-100 Soviet Union1940stank destroyerEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M47 Patton United Statesearly 1950smain battle tankEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M36 Jackson United States1944tank destroyerEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
T-55 Soviet Union1950smain battle tankEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
PT-76 Soviet Union1950s–60samphibious light tankEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
T-72 Soviet Union1970smain battle tankEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M-84 Yugoslavia1980smain battle tankEx-Yugoslav People's Army. Improved Yugoslav-built variant of the Soviet T-72.
Armored Personnel Carriers
M8 United States1940sarmored carEx-Yugoslav People's Army, supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII.
M3A1 Scout Car United States1940sarmored carEx-Yugoslav People's Army, supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII.
Bren Gun Carrier United Kingdom1940sarmored personnel carrierEx-Yugoslav People's Army, First Partisan Tank Brigade. Supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII.
BMP-1 Soviet Union1970s–80sinfantry fighting vehicleEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
BVP M-80A Yugoslavia1980sarmored personnel carrierEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
BOV Yugoslavia / Slovenia1980sarmored personnel carrierEx-Yugoslav People's Army. Examples of military and police (BOV M-86) variants.
BTR-80 Soviet Unionlate 1980sarmored personnel carrierEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
Artillery
Schneider MLE 1937 France1930santi-tank gunEx-Royal Yugoslav Army, ex-Yugoslav People's Army.
Bofors gun Sweden  United States  United Kingdom1930santi-aircraft autocannonEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
Flak 30 Germany1940santi-aircraft gunEx-Wehrmacht, ex-Yugoslav People's Army.
Flak 38 Germany1940santi-aircraft gunEx-Wehrmacht, ex-Yugoslav People's Army.
Flak 88 Germany1940santi-aircraft gunEx-Wehrmacht, ex-Yugoslav People's Army.
M1937 howitzer-gun Soviet Unionlate 1930s – early 1940showitzer-gunEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M1942 divisional gun Soviet Unionearly 1940sfield gunEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M1 Long Tom United Statesearly 1940sfield gunEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M7 Priest United States1940sself-propelled artillery vehicleEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M-48 B1 Yugoslavia / Serbia1940smountain gunEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
ZSU-57 Soviet Unionlate 1950sself-propelled anti-aircraft gunEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
ZSU-57 Soviet Union1963self-propelled anti-aircraft gunEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M53/59 Praga Czechoslovak Socialist Republic1960sself-propelled anti-aircraft gunEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M84 Yugoslavia / Serbiagun-howitzerEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
M-63 Plamen Yugoslavia / Serbia1960s–70smultiple rocket launcherEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
2S1 Gvozdika Soviet Union1970s–80sself-propelled howitzerEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
Zastava M55 Yugoslavia / Serbia1970s–80sautomatic anti-aircraft gunEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
Auxiliary
M5 Tractor United States1940sartillery tractorEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
MT-LB Soviet Unionauxiliary armored tracked vehicleEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
BTM-3 Soviet Union1963trench-digging vehicleEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
MT-55KS Czechoslovak Socialist Republic1970s–80sbridge-laying vehicleEx-Yugoslav People's Army.
Transportation
Class 52 Military Locomotive Germanyearly 1940sBaureihe 52 No. 33-110 / JŽ 33 (Yugoslav designation)Ex-Deutsche Reichsbahn, ex-Yugoslav Railways. Acquired 2016.
Harley-Davidson WLA United States1940smotorcycleMilitary version of civilian WL model.
Yugo Yugoslavia1980sfour-door hatchbackDisplayed being crushed by a tank in a diorama of the street barricades raised by civilians during the Ten-Day War.
  • M4A3 Sherman
  • M36 Jackson
  • T-55 bridge layer
  • M3A3 Stuart
  • M3A1 Scout Car
  • M8 Greyhound
  • P-913 Commando Submarine
  • 47mm Schneider antitank gun
  • 20mm Flak 38 anti-aircraft gun
  • M-84
  • Aérospatiale / Soko Gazelle
  • Armor collection

See also

Notes
  1. "Military Museum of the Slovene Armed Forces website". Vojaški muzej Slovenske vojske.
  2. "Park of Military History website". Park vojaške zgodovine.
  3. Boštjančič, Janko. "Park vojaške zgodovine". Muzej novejše zgodovine. Archived from the original on 2014-03-07.
  4. "The Wizard of Kranj: YUAF Aircraft Restored". Achtung Skyhawk.
  5. Jaksetič, Dragica (March 15, 2012). "Pivška podmornica je pravi magnet". Delo. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  6. "Park of Military History website". Park vojaške zgodovine.
  7. "Military Museum of the Slovene Armed Forces website - vehicle collection". Vojaški muzej Slovenske vojske.

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