A TANK with a long and varied history is being restored with the help of volunteers at Eden Camp Museum near Malton.

The M50 Sherman is being brought back to working order as part of restoration programme at the museum.

Frank Wood, an heritage restoration senior engineer, said the tank was originally a M4A4 and had been built in November 1942 in the USA by Chrysler before being given over to the British as part of the Land-Lease agreement.

“At that point we lose the history of the tank until 1945 when we think it was one of a number of tanks shipped over to Britain before D-Day,” he said.

“After the Second World War it was given to the French as they were trying to rearm themselves.”

In 1956 the French sold the tank to the Israeli Defence Force who fitted a bigger gun, called a CN75/50, upgrading the tank to a M50.

The tank finished its military career with the Southern Lebanese Army where it was used up to 1988 and then bought by a Second World War collector.

It has been part of the display at Eden Camp since 1994.

Frank said last year the museum had set up an Eden Camp Heritage Restoration project to restore and look after its vehicles.

“We initially picked five, including a motorbike, tractor and the biggest of all - the Sherman tank,” he said.

“The aim now is to get it back to fully working order by the end of the summer.”

When complete the tank is set to be one of only about 10 in the world in full working order.

Frank said the project has proved particularly challenging as parts were no longer available.

“We could have just put a lorry engine in but we wanted to restore it properly and we have had lots of support from volunteers who have come to this project with real enthusiasm and been indispensable,” he said.

“The tank is very rare and we feel a duty to restore it with historical accuracy.”

For more, visit facebook.com/edencampheritagerestorations