Renovated 'Staghound' armored vehicle at Old Bethpage museum honors service of Queen Elizabeth during WWII
Stacy Wasson applying finishing touches to the Staghound’s dedication to then-Princess Elizabeth. Credit: Museum of American Armor / Steven Biegler
Years before she would ascend to the throne, 19-year-old Princess Elizabeth volunteered to join the British Auxiliary Territorial Services during the height of World War II, and learned how to repair engines and drive ambulances.
The 78th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's service in the British Army will be celebrated Thursday during a ceremony at the Museum of American Armor in Old Bethpage, which will dedicate an armored vehicle in the late monarch's honor.
The vehicle, nicknamed the "Staghound," was originally shipped from the United States to Britain during the war under the “Lend-Lease” Agreement in which the U.S. provided billions in material, food and oil to allied nations between 1941 and 1945. The Staghound was later shipped to Australia to prepare for an invasion, which never transpired, by the Japanese. The vehicle has been in Australia for several decades, officials said.
The armored vehicle was purchased in recent years by a private collector, who then sold it for an undisclosed sum to the museum, which restored the Staghound to its original form.
The museum hired Stacy Wasson, an art teacher at Roosevelt High School, to paint Princess Elizabeth's name on the vehicle along with an image of the white Rose of York, meant to symbolize the royal family tree.
"The queen that we all knew was once a teenage girl struggling to be brave in the face of war," said Wasson, of North Bellmore, who volunteers at the museum and spent about 20 hours on the project, researching and painting the vehicle. "A war which would shape her character and help mold her into the icon we all came to know."
Built by Chevrolet, the Staghound was a light armored vehicle designed to probe for German forces in North Africa, Italy, and Europe. It will now become a permanent part of the museum’s operational collection.
Thursday's ceremony will feature a delegation from the British Consulate, members of the British War Veterans of America, British military living historians and Nassau County lawmakers and police.
Michael Sapraicone, the museum's senior trustee, said the event serves as a reminder of the alliance between the U.S. and Britain which continues to this day as they together support Ukraine with military equipment in its war with Russian forces.
"It's a great opportunity to show how the flag and the Union Jack worked together back in the 1940s to come to an end of the Second World War," Sapraicone said.
Benjamin Brierley, a senior policy adviser at the British Consulate, said the relationship between the U.S. and the United Kingdom is exemplified by the cooperation of their respective armed forces.
"And this goes back to a period during the Second World War where those ties were very close," Brierley said. "I think it's a wonderful way to both educate Long Islanders in terms of the museum's core mission, but also to pay tribute to this period, Her Majesty and the veterans in general."
Queen Elizabeth II died in September at the age of 96 after reigning for a record 70 years.
Wasson said most people don't realize the amount of service then-Princess Elizabeth performed during the war and throughout the rest of her career.
"It wasn't just christening ships and cutting ribbons," she said. "When I look at the Staghound, I think about that teenage girl who really didn't have much of any teenage years. She really had to grow up during the war."
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
