Bovington Tank Museum

Day three of the museum crawl and I visited the Tank Museum at Bovington. I have been here dozens of times but the thing that I love about this place is that it is always changing. Their collections is massive so they are constantly moving items around and are able to display new items and put on new special exhibitions regularly.

My happy place...and on a gloriously sunny day too.

King Tiger. I have seen this tank dozens of times and its size never fails to impress me. 

The French FT17 may have been small but it was probably one of the best tanks of WWI

The British Whippet Tank. This vehicle was commanded by Lt Cecil Sewell. His VC is on display in the entrance to the museum. 

On 29th August 1918 Lt Sewell saw one of the tanks in his troop fall into a schell crater and catch fire. He got out of his own tank and under fire ran to the stranded vehicle and helped dig out the door and free the crew before they burned to death. He then ran back to his own tank and gave first aid to his own gunner. While doing so he was shot several times, the last fatally. His family collected his VC at Buckenham Palace in December of 1918 and the family have loaned it to the Tank Museum to honour his bravery.

The Lanchester Mk II Armoured Car.

A Vickers Armstrong Mark E Tank. The British army decided it didn't want this tank so Vickers sold the tank all around the world.

The French Char B was technically a superior tank to anything the Germans could throw at it but tactically they were not used very well.

An American Grant tank. I'm not convinced by the camo pattern but I guess its correct... this is the tank museum after all. 

Panzer III

The Sherman Firefly

I had to resist the temptation to play with the toys.... 

A new exhibit is Long After the Battle, featuring the stories of Royal Armoured Corp soldiers. 

Five stories in particular were told with audio visual displays and interviews.

Part of the display around the exhibit.

A Matilda I Infantry Tank A11

Churchill Mk IV Infantry Tank, A22

Little Willie, the first tank. It was experimental and never saw action (it was made of mild steel not armour) but it paved the way to later designs.

88mm Panzerjager Jagdpanther SdKfz 173

The Conservation centre is very full. Chatting to one of the volunteers he said they were moving tanks here as they cleared out the workshops. Later developments will see the 'Display fleet' moved to another building.

Once again a great visit to the Tank Museum. I always enjoy my trips here and they always seem to have something new to show. I like the fact that the team here don't rest on their laurels and are always putting together new exhibitions and bringing in previously unseen tanks.