A Day At The Museum: Part Two

A Day At The Museum: Part Two

A Day At The Museum: Part Two
Visiting Bovington Tank Museum
with Jökull Gíslason and Brjánn Jónasson.

On our way to this year’s European Grand Tournament, the four of us from Iceland decided to come a day early in order to visit the Tank Museum at Bovington. For us it was akin to a pilgrimage, seeing the real-life versions of the miniatures we’ve spent so many hours painting and moving around the table.
Read A Day At The Museum: Part One here... Read about Jökull's experience at the European GT here...
The Tank Story
The last exhibition in the Tank Museum entitled The Tank Story tells the story of tank development throughout history using actual tanks!

Below: Little Willie; the prototype of the Mark I tank. Below: The tank that served in both World Wars, the Renault FT.
A Day At The Museum: Part Two
A Day At The Museum: Part Two
Below: Time for the World War Two. Below: Char B1 bis and its ammunition, in fact I really liked seeing the how ammunition compared to the various guns; one of the many unique features of The Tank Story exhibit.
A Day At The Museum: Part Two A Day At The Museum: Part Two
Below: The Panzer II, the winner of the Battle of France.
Below: Moving to North Africa; a Grant.
A Day At The Museum: Part Two A Day At The Museum: Part Two
Below: The Matilda.
Below: The Panzer III.
A Day At The Museum: Part Two A Day At The Museum: Part Two
Below: The mighty Tiger I E. This example was captured intact in Tunisia and still has the marks from the impact of the 6 pdr shell that jammed its turret and caused it crew to abandon it.
Below: The business end of the Tiger I E.
A Day At The Museum: Part Two A Day At The Museum: Part Two
Below: Posing next to the Tiger I E for scale. Below: A example of a Soviet T34/85...
A Day At The Museum: Part Two A Day At The Museum: Part Two
Below: The same T-34/85 with a Panther G in its sights.
Below: The Panther was most impressive and much larger than other medium tanks.
A Day At The Museum: Part Two A Day At The Museum: Part Two
Below: A DD (or Duplex Drive) Sherman with its floation screen raised. A viewing panel has been cut into the screen in order to view the tank itself.
Below: The Big Cat Killer; the Sherman Firefly with its OQF 17 pdr gun.
A Day At The Museum: Part Two A Day At The Museum: Part Two
The Tank Story exhibition went on to more modern designs but my focus for the visit was World War Two. The thing is there are hundreds of tanks and armoured vehicles on display and the four of us spent over six hours wandering and taking in all the exhibits at the Tank Museum. Our background as wargamers and modellers helped fuelled our enthusiasm and it often felt like meeting an old friend when we saw the actual tanks we were so used to moving around the Flames Of War tabletop.

At the end of our visit we were treated to an unscheduled event. Two of the Tank Museums staff took a small group into the hanger area where over one hundred armoured vehicles were awaiting restoration. Both staff members were former members of the Royal Tank Regiments and their tour was quite enlightening.
They also told us that the Tank Museum is offered numerous of donations (vehicles that is) each year but cannot accept them all as they simply don't have the space for them. So each time a donation is offered it is carefully considered for its historical importance and condition before a final decision is made.

If you have a chance I strongly recommend a trip to the Tank Museum and if you are anything like me, make it a full-day of it.

Right: A Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go.

~ Jökull and Brjánn.
A Day At The Museum: Part Two
For more info on the Tank Museum go here: http://www.tankmuseum.org


Last Updated On Tuesday, November 26, 2013 by Blake at Battlefront