Visits : BOVINGTON TANK MUSEUM

The splendid Tank Museum at Bovington claims to have the largest collection of tanks and the third largest collection of armoured vehicles in the world. The small group of Society members who visited on 24 September would have had no cause to disagree. Armoured vehicles are arranged to clearly illustrate their development from primitive beginnings to the sophisticated weapons of today. The “Trench Experience”, with its numerous WW1 lozenge-shaped tanks, takes us back to a more primitive era.The variety of armour on site is astounding, ranging from the very first British designed vehicle of 1915, named “Little Wilie”, to a recent model Challenger. We were able to sit in the claustrophobic space in the turret of a Chieftain and to see at first hand the only remaining fully functional German Tiger tank. We saw the huge French Char B, which was easily beaten by Wehrmacht tactics in 1940, as well as the low-profile Soviet-era T72, inside which the crew cannot stand upright. Many thanks to Rosanne for her organisation.