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The Tank Museum

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The Tank Museum
File:Logo of The Tank Museum.jpg
The museum
The Tank Museum is located in Dorset
The Tank Museum
Location of The Tank Museum within Dorset
Established1947
LocationBovington, Dorset
England
Coordinates50°41′43″N 2°14′37″W / 50.695194°N 2.243611°W / 50.695194; -2.243611
TypeMilitary Museum
Public transit accessWool railway station
Websitewww.tankmuseum.org

The Tank Museum (previously The Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Wool and 12 miles (19 km) west of the major port of Poole. The collection traces the history of the tank. With almost 300 vehicles on exhibition from 26 countries it is the largest collection of tanks and the third largest collection of armoured vehicles in the world.[Note 1] It includes Tiger 131, the only working example of a German Tiger I tank, and a British First World War Mark I, the world's oldest surviving combat tank. It is the museum of the Royal Tank Regiment and the Royal Armoured Corps and is a registered charity.[1]

History

The writer Rudyard Kipling visited Bovington in 1923 and, after viewing the damaged tanks that had been salvaged at the end of the First World War, recommended a museum should be set up.[2] Accordingly a shed was established to house the collection but was not opened to the general public until 1947.[2]

George Forty, who was appointed Director of the Museum in 1982, expanded and modernized the collection. He retired in 1993 after which he received an OBE.[3] The museum established its own YouTube channel to teach about the tanks in January 2010.[4] David Fletcher, who had been an historian at the museum since 1982, retired in 2012 and was also appointed an MBE "for his services to the history of armoured warfare".[5]

Exhibition halls

Male British Mark V. It saw action at the Battle of Amiens in August 1918.
Rolls Royce 1920 Mk 1
World War I Hall (Tank Men)

As well as containing the majority of the museum's World War I tanks this hall tells the story of men who crewed the first tanks between 1916 and 1918.[6]

Inter War Hall (War Horse to Horsepower)

This hall now explores the rise of the tank and the role of the cavalry on the Western Front.[7]

World War II Hall
Jagdtiger.

This hall displays the biggest section, with tanks from most nations involved in the conflict.[8]

Battlegroup Afghanistan
Iraqi T-55.

This hall contains the Battlegroup Afghanistan exhibition. The men of the Royal Armoured Corps who have been involved in some of the fiercest fighting since World War Two.[9]

Tank Factory

This hall explores the design & technology that goes into making tanks and AFVs. There is a mock production line of Centurions, as well as prototype and experimental vehicles.[10]

The Tank Story Hall

This hall holds some of the most important tanks and AFVs in history, with a supporting collection housed in a multimedia exhibition. It follows the story of the tank, from its invention in 1915 through the 20th century and into the future.[11]

The Vehicle Conservation Centre

The Vehicle Conservation Centre provides cover for more of the collection and puts on view vehicles that had previously not been seen by the public.[12]

See also

Tank museums
Other

Notes

  1. ^ The Musée des Blindés in France has a collection of 880 armoured vehicles, although it includes fewer tanks than Bovington.

References

  1. ^ "The Tank Museum Limited, registered charity no. 1102661". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  2. ^ a b "Museum history". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Lt. Col. George Forty OBE FMA". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Tank Museum". YouTube. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  5. ^ "David Fletcher Honoured". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Tank Men". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  7. ^ "War Horse to Horsepower". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Second World War". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Battlegroup Afghanistan". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Tank Factory". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  11. ^ "The Tank Story". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  12. ^ "The Vehicle Conservation Centre". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
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