David Willey, curator of the Tank Museum at Bovington takes a look at Tiger 131.
Tank Chats #35 Centurion
April 18, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Another installment of the Tank Chats series from the Tank Museum at Bovington.
The thirty-fifth Tank Chat, presented David Fletcher MBE, is the first of the videos on the Centurion series of tanks.
The Centurion is one of the most important tanks in the history of the British AFV and is one of the most significant post-war Western tanks. Introduced in the spring of 1945, a small number of the Beach Armoured Recovery Version (BARV) served with the British forces during the Iraq war of 2003, 58 years later.
The Tiger Collection video from Bovington Tank Museum
April 10, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Here is a short video showing off the new “Tiger Collection” Exhibition at the Bovington Tank Museum.
Tank Chats #34 Chieftain
April 7, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Tank Museum Curator David Willey talks about the Chieftain Main Battle Tank.
Tank Chats #33 Panzer III
March 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The Tank Museum presents another installment of “tank chats.” This episode features museum curator David Willey describing the late model Panzer III tank that resides at the Tank Museum. For more information on this vehicle, we recommend the recently released Haynes Manual on the Panzer III by Dick Taylor.
The Tank Museum: Tank 100
March 4, 2017 by Leave a Comment
It’s been a few months since we visited the Tank Museums Tank 100 website, celebrating 100 years since the first use of tanks in 1916. There is quite a bit of interesting new content there, including more installments of the Tank Men series looking at WWI British tank crewmen and Training and Combat section. Quite a few of the posts are written by Tank Museum researcher and prolific author David Fletcher. We have provided some links to some of posts written by Fletcher below. This is not a complete list and we highly recommend that people spend some time browsing the content at the Tank 100 site, it’s well worth the time.
Recruiting for the Heavy Section – Mr. Fletcher describes the formation of the first tank units
Part I – Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Swinton was one of the leading men in the development of the Tank Corps, going on to recruit hundreds of tank men who served in the First World War. Read his story in the first of a three part series on the creation of the Heavy Section of the Royal Machine-Gun Corps.
Part 2 – It can’t be easy recruiting for a new branch of the Army, especially if you’re not supposed to say in the first place exactly what it does. This seems to have been the main problem in the early days facing Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Swinton, Royal Engineers, when he tried to recruit men for the new war machines, the ‘tanks’.
Part 3 – Part 3 goes into more detail regarding exactly how Swinton, first commander of the Heavy Section, managed to swell the numbers up to 184 officers and 1610 men of other ranks.
A Tank in Your Town – A list of some of the WWI British tanks that survived the war
Ypres – Ypres, in Belgium, on the edge of the Salient of evil memory, is another location that acquired a tank, selecting one from those about to be destroyed at the end of the war which had significant local associations.
Tonbridge – It would be nice to say that I remembered the Tonbridge tank but it was long gone by the time I was there, I knew the Castle well enough, and the river Medway that runs by it, but the tank was scrapped in 1938, even before I was born.
Barnsley – Barnsley, in Yorkshire, received its tank on 27 June 1919. It was delivered to the goods yard and driven from there by a Tank Corps crew, to a temporary resting place in the town centre, two weeks later the men returned and drove the tank to its permanent site in Locke Park where it was displayed along with a German 77mm field gun.
Aberdeen – Scotland ran its own National War Savings Scheme and since we don’t have their version of the Silver Bullet we don’t yet know how many tanks were distributed. We can only rely on postcards, such as the one above from Aberdeen, but we’re slowly building up a picture.
Colchester – At Colchester, in Essex, the gifted tank was set up on a plinth alongside the ancient castle walls. It was a Mark IV female although its number is not recorded. However we do know that it sported unditching beam rails and the white/red/white markings which indicate that it served in France and was not a mere training machine from Bovington.
Toward the Tank – The first 8 of a 12 part series looking at the predecessors of the tank over the centuries.
Part 4: Valturio’s War Chariot
Part 6: Steven’s Landship 1599
Tanks in the Middle East – A very interesting series of articles about the little known use of WWI armor in Palestine and Egypt.
Tanks in Palestine in the First World War
Mark I & Mark II Tanks in Gaza
The Matilda Diaries, Parts 9, 10 and 11
March 4, 2017 by Leave a Comment
It’s time we caught up on the Matilda Diaries series from the Tank Museum at Bovington. This video series examines the Museums efforts to restore their Matilda II infantry tank. These episodes look at restoration of the turret, the gun and the gearbox.
Tank Chats #32 Cromwell
February 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The thirty second in a series of short films about some of the vehicles at the Tank Museum featuring historian David Fletcher MBE. The Second World War, British, Cromwell tank was one of the fastest tanks of the war.
Video: Elefant Tank Arrives For New Exhibition at Bovington Tank Museum
January 8, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Seventy-two years after it fell into Allied hands, one of the largest combat vehicles to see action in the Second World War arrived safely at The Tank Museum in Dorset.
Elefant Arrives at Bovington Tank Museum
December 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last week one of the two remaining Elefant tank destroyers from WWII arrived at the Tank Museum at Bovington UK to be part of their upcoming Tiger Collection exhibit. Here is an article from the Tank Museum about the arrival of this armored beast.
Seventy-two years after it fell into Allied hands, one of the largest combat vehicles to see action in the Second World War has arrived safely at The Tank Museum in Dorset.
The 70 ton Panzerjäger Tiger (P), commonly known as Elefant, has undergone an historic 3,500 mile return journey across the Atlantic.
It was captured near Anzio, Italy, by US troops in June 1944 – and quickly shipped stateside for military evaluation.
Tank Museum Curator David Willey said: “Tiger tanks like this one have a powerful reputation which was underpinned with Nazi propaganda at the time.”
“This reputation has persisted beyond the war itself into books, films and video games.”
The tank is being loaned from the US Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center at Fort Lee, VA, by The United States Army Centre of Military History and is one of just two surviving examples of the 91 Elefants that saw service with German forces.
It will be the first time that an Elefant has ever been seen in the UK.
“This mythical reputation, coupled with their rarity, is what makes them of such great interest. But in truth, the myth has elevated them to be greater than the reality.” David added.
Designed by famed auto-engineer Ferdinand Porsche, the Elefant was a self-propelled anti-tank gun and member of the ‘Tiger family’ of Second World War German tanks.
Before serving in Italy, it took part in the Battle of Kursk, which remains the biggest tank battle in history.
Its final destination is The Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, where it will feature in ‘The Tiger Collection – the Tanks, the Terror & the Truth‘ exhibition sponsored by World of Tanks.
“Tigers are large and impressive by contemporary standards – but there is a moral responsibility to remember what they were used for and the regime who created them,” said David.
“Representing less than 7% of their wartime tank production, Tiger tanks failed to have a real impact and our exhibition will be presenting a more balanced account of these vehicles, along with views of veterans.”
Set to open in April 2017, the exhibition will bring every member of the Tiger tank family together in one space for the first time in history. However, one example that has eluded the Museum will be appearing virtually, courtesy of exhibition sponsors World of Tanks.
“We’re taking our experience of creating historically accurate models for our World of Tanks video game and using this to create an exhibit to complete the collection,” said Richard Cutland, World of Tanks European Head of Military Relations.
“Using the latest digital technology, visitors will be able to see a full-sized Sturmtiger in the exhibition with the use of our Augmented Reality App. We’re pleased to be supporting an exhibition of such international significance.”
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