As part of the event series
1945 in Nuremberg The end of the Second World War 80 years ago
the Spielzeugmuseum der Stadt Nürnberg (Toy Museum of the City of Nuremberg) is also exhibiting an airplane tank soapbox. The according website says (translated from German):
During the Second World War, Allied military aircraft had additional tanks made of metal or aluminum for long distances. When the additional fuel was used up, the pilots disconnected these tanks to reduce weight for the return flight. The empty tanks lay in meadows and fields at the end of the war. Children and young people converted the decoupled tanks into boats or soapboxes. To do this, they punched an opening in them – often with the help of adults – and bent the sharp edges so that no one could injure themselves. For the unique aircraft tank soapbox, a steering wheel was inserted and a chassis with solid rubber tires was screwed under the military relic – and the children’s toy was ready.
Some of the older ones in Germany and also the Netherlands will probably still remember. Here a part of a war machine became a toy. But only a short time before it was part of a deadly machine. In the last days of the war, pilots carried out low-level attacks with their on-board cannons on anything that moved. Anyone who was unable to take cover in time paid for it with their life in the worst case. There were many children among them.
(c) 2025 (translated) text in italics and illustration by Spielzeugmuseum Nürnberg, photography by Rudi Ott, Germany