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 north of the village of Wool, Dorset, Wool and 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.The ''Musée des Blindés'' in France has a collection of 880 armoured vehicles, although it includes fewer tanks than Bovington. It includes Tiger 131, the only working example of a German Tiger I tank, and a British First World War Mark I tank, 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 charitable organization, registered charity.

History

The writer Rudyard Kipling visited Bovington in 1923 and, after viewing the damaged tanks that had been salvaged at the end of the World War I, First World War, recommended a museum should be set up. Accordingly, a shed was established to house the collection but was not opened to the general public until 1947. George Forty, who was appointed director of the museum in 1982, expanded and modernized the collection. He retired in 1993 after which he was appointed an Order of the British Empire, OBE. The museum established its own YouTube, YouTube channel to teach about the tanks in January 2010. David Fletcher (military historian), David Fletcher, who had been an historian at the museum since 1982, retired in 2012 and was also appointed an Order of the British Empire, MBE "for his services to the history of armoured warfare".

Exhibition halls

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. *Featured tanks: Mark I tank, Mark IV tank, IV, Mark V tank, V (one of the few World War I tanks still in working order), Mark IX tank, IX & Mark VIII (tank), Mark VIII "Liberty" tanks.

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. *Featured tanks: Vickers A1E1 Independent, Peerless armoured car & Vickers Light tank, Mark II.

World War II Hall

This hall displays the biggest section, with tanks from most nations involved in the conflict. *Featured tanks: Panzer I, Panzer III, III, Panzer IV, IV, Stug III, Tiger II, Hetzer, Jagdpanzer 38(t), Jagdpanther, Jagdtiger, Sd.Kfz. 251, Somua S35, Comet tank, Comet I, Matilda Mk I, Valiant tank, A38 Valiant, Ram tank, Ram Cruiser Mk II, M24 Chaffee, M4 Sherman, 17pdr SP Achilles, M48 Patton, M26 Pershing, T17E1 Staghound, General Aircraft Hamilcar, Hamilcar glider, DUKW, SU-76, T-26, Kliment Voroshilov tank, KV-1, L3/33, L3/33 LF, M13/40, Tortoise tank, Tortoise, Black Prince (tank), Black Prince.

Battlegroup Afghanistan

This hall contains the Battlegroup Afghanistan exhibition. The men of the Royal Armoured Corps were involved in some of the fiercest fighting since the Second World War. *Featured tanks: Conqueror tank, Conqueror, Chieftain tank, Chieftain (which is accessible), Challenger 1 and TOG2.

Tank Factory

This hall explores the design & technology that goes into making tanks and AFVs. There is a mock production line of Centurion tank, Centurions, as well as prototype and experimental vehicles. *Featured tanks: a T-55 with sections cut out enabling visitors to see inside, Swedish S tank, Strv 103, prototype FV101 Scorpion and various Ferret armoured cars, along with the first M4 Sherman supplied to the British in World War II, and an A13 Covenanter tank, Covenanter.

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. *Featured tanks: Little Willie (the forerunner of British tanks), Whippet (tank), Whippet, Renault FT, Char B1, Panzer II, Tiger 131 (a Tiger I captured in Tunisia in April 1943 and fully restored to running condition by the workshops at Bovington, this is the only Tiger I left that is capable of running under its own power; it was used in the film ''Fury (2014 film), Fury''), M3 Lee, M3 Grant, T-34, Panther tank, Panther, DD tank, DD Sherman, Churchill tank, Churchill Mk VII, Sherman Firefly, M48 Patton, T-72, T-62 and Challenger 2.

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. *Featured tanks: Charioteer tank, Charioteer, M41 Walker Bulldog, M41 Bulldog, M103 heavy tank, M103, M60 Patton, T-54, Cold War and Iraqi T-55s, BMP-1, AMX-30, Type 69/79, Type 69, Infanterikanonvagn 91, Excelsior tank, A33 Excelsior, T14 Heavy Tank, T14 and SU-100.

Film

The museum's collection includes Tiger 131, the only surviving Tiger I tank in operable condition, which appeared in the 2014 film ''Fury (2014 film), Fury'', and the replica Mark IV tank built for the film War Horse (film), ''War Horse''.

Notes

References

External links

Tank Museum websiteTank100 blog
commemorating the centenary of the First World War.
Tiger Collection blog
– photographs inside the museum

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tank Museum 1947 establishments in England Museums established in 1947 Military and war museums in England Army museums in England World War I museums in the United Kingdom Museums in Dorset Transport museums in England Tank museums World War II museums in the United Kingdom Charities based in England