Alistair Hardaker | Image: Workshops team leader Aaron, who found the round (The Tank Museum)
Tank Museum staff discovered a live round hidden beneath a floor panel in a Panzer III tank during routine maintenance checks.
The Tank Museum has discovered a live bullet inside a Panzer III tank during routine maintenance ahead of the 2026 show season, hidden for more than 80 years.
The Second World War German round was found beneath an internal floor panel by workshops team leader Aaron during a routine check. The ammunition matches rounds fired from the machine guns fitted to the museum’s Panzer III.
The vehicle was captured by the British Army during the Second World War and shipped to the UK. It is one of just two surviving Panzer III tanks maintained in running condition and regularly appears at the museum’s Tiger Day and TANKFEST events.
Historian Ian Hudson said:“Though we can’t definitively say that the round is a wartime artefact, it’s certainly very likely.
“Either way, it’s fascinating to be able to write another new chapter in the history of the vehicle – over 80 years since its capture.”
The museum said ammunition of this age can be unstable and potentially dangerous, but its team had been trained in the safe handling and removal of such finds.
The round has been deactivated and added to the museum’s objects collection. The Panzer III has been cleared to appear at the 2026 show season, beginning on 18 April for Tiger Day Spring.
