This summer I had the great fortune to visit the Tank Museum in Bovington, and see some of the vehicles from the Canadian War Museum. Figured I'd dump some of my highlights if anyone is interested.
Beginning with three Marks: a IV, and some of the only IX APCs and VIII Internationals ever produced.
More of the International's neat folding sponson, then a Female MK V and the fucking radical Vickers A1E1, which they kept in a dark corner for no particularly good reason.
The A1E1's multiple turrest spawned the very popular and totally useless multi-turret tank concept of the 1920s.
They had the Tiger Collection exhibit on, showcasing vehicles on the Tiger I and 2 Chassis, including an Elefant, Tiger 1, pre-production model 2, production-model 2 and Jagdtiger.
If you've never been near a Tiger before, it's hard to describe just how big they feel- they're not even all that large, but they have a massiveness to them that's really neat.
Up next, an M22 Locust, Springer heavy tracked mine (it's more than twice the payload of the Goliath, and faster too), and then an SU-76M and a KV-12.
KV-1S, sorry. Then we've got a Close Support A10, with the somewhat useless smoke-laying howitzer, a very nice Pershing, and a bridgelayer Valentine.
They had a couple Finnish vehicles, namely a captured T-26 and T-34/76, which I wasn't able to get particularly good shots of because it was hidden in a corner.
They have what is believed to be the only Panther Schmalturm prototype in existence, which was recovered from a gunnery range in Germany where it was being used for target practice. Also a flamethrower Carroveloce, and an Australian Sentinel I- the Commonwealth tanks were generally pretty well represented.
Apparently this Type 95's interior is liberally coated with asbestos, and they're still trying to find a way to stabilize it, so the vehicle is heavily sealed.
Unsurprisingly, this place has a lot of one-off prototypes and test models, including the Black Prince heavy and the TOG II*, which was tragically tucked into the back of the lunch room next to the World of Tanks counter. Also a Ram, because muh patriotism.
A friend of mine's grandfather worked as a tank mechanic with the Wehrmacht, and he described the Panzer I as 'sporty', which I find endlessly entertaining.
I find Ram derivatives endlessly entertaining, because as much as secondary turrets are horribly impractical, they're also really cute.
Two Stuarts, a beautiful Stug III, and a prototype Harry Hopkins airborne tank, again inexplicably in a corner. You literally had to lean past a Staghound armoured car just to see it.
The Valiant has pride of place in a section dedicated to weird stuff that was never deployed, as it rightfully should. Thing's got less than half a foot of ground clearance in the back, by the looks, and the driver's hatches are minuscule. Also the Praying Mantis hedge-attacker, a Crab Sherman with the mine flails still intact, and a somewhat badly lit Stridsvagen 103.
These next photos move out of the museum's main storage and into their timeline hall, which is slightly better lit. The white thing is the testbed for the Scorpion reconnaissance vehicle.
Also, Little Willy, the OG.
Crossley-Chevrolet, with a four-gun turret designed for putting down uppity natives, a Valentine IX with its famously cramped 6-pounder turret, the only Duplex Drive Sherman left on the planet that still has the original skirt, and a Medium Mark 2.
Panther, comfy Kettenkrad, and a couple of Churchills- oddly enough they don't have any 'standard' Churchills inside, only the Crocodile flamethrower variant.
They have some extremely damaged prototypes outside, which are basically too far gone to realistically restore. Highlights include the Churchill Gun Carrier, the A22, and the Cavalier textbed, which was supposed to replace the Crusader.
The next couple photos switch over to the Canadian War Museum, which I've visited probably too many times. The 18-pounder is supposedly the gun that fired the last Canadian shot of WW1.
The truck is one of the only four-wheel drive vehicles used during WW1, and then a couple functioning Leopard-chassis vehicles used by the Canadian Forces, namely an ARV and a CV2.
So, that's what I've got for armour photos. I'd strongly recommend a visit to Bovington if you can make it out to the ass-end of southern England. The size of the collection beggars belief. The War Museum in Ottawa is also a good visit, though some of their displays have kind of cucked out lately under pressure from 'concerned citizens'.
I've also got photos from the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, the RAF Museum at Hendon, the HMS Belfast, and the Gatineau Air Show, but I haven't sorted through them yet. When I do, I can post them here if people want.
What's with the massive faggot on pics 2 and 3
It's a fascine for trench-crossing. So you don't have to make your tank eight billion feet long and lose your turning capability, but can still cross long and deep trenches.
So they just drop it in a gap then drive over it. Got it.
Really great photos, Strelok. That would certainly be worth the flight to see.
Nice thread, Mr. OP. But, may I ask, did they have no offerings of my favoruite tank the Matilda II? I ask seeing the other beautiful old infantry tanks I so adore. Great to see those Crocodiles especially. One day they might be useful clearing out ghettos and favela's if the day ever arises.
Flight, followed by two train rides totally about 2 hours each, and then 20 minutes on a bus. It's really in the middle of nowhere.
I believe they do, but aside from the CDL one there weren't any on display in the main building. I think it's part of their demonstration fleet so they keep it in their reserve building, which I was literally only able to visit for 30 seconds right before it closed.
Bovington really is great, especially if you can get there on one of the days where they're driving the tanks about.
Last time I was there I was with a guy tripping balls on acid, which must have been an interesting experience for him…
Why live
Aw shit. This entire thread makes me want to go full tank-autist again.
Tigers appear large because of some very simple geometry.
They are quite wide ad the base (look at those tracks). At the same time the Germans learned a tiny bit about sloped armour, and made the entire thing pointed towards the top.
This means that when you stand besides this relatively wide vehicle the top appears to be further away than it actually is, causing you to think that it is larger.
The Tank Museum is fucking great, I go every year.
They just completely overhauled their Matilda II into working condition, currently sitting in the big maintenance shed for repairs for the show days.
That's fantastic to hear! Good to see them keeping those old things up and running and in tune.
If you could post the photos from Hendon a lot of people here would probably be interested they have a lot of unique planes there… I have good memories of the place.
Just got them sorted. Apologies in advance for the lower quality on these ones, the big hangar at Hendon seemed to have most of its lights out. My gf extra camera was out of commission for the day so I have fewer 'backup shots' as well.
Anyways, starting with some stuff from the Museum of Science and Industry, which has a small aircraft collection.
The P1A prototype of the English Electric Lightning, the Roe 1 Triplane, first English aircraft, the Avro 707 supersonic testbed, a B-7M autogyro built by the designer of Little Nellie, and an Ohka flying bomb. Why is Manchester so filthy? The whole city felt like a garbage dump
Next a Shackleton sub hunter (it's a pity the building was so cramped, hard to get any wide shots), and then moving on to RAF Hendon with one of their gate-guard Spitfires, the wind tunnel model for the horribly designed Tarrant Tabor triplane bomber, a Short Sunderland that I desperately want to have adventures on, and a late-model Bleriot.
A 2-seat Caudron G.3 scout/trainer, the unusual-looking Sopwith Dolphin fighter, a Sopwith Triplane, the gunner's compartment of an SE5.a heavy fighter, and the infinite radicalness that is the Blackburn Buccaneer. What is it about torpedo bombers that makes them have so much personality?
Nose art from the Buccaneer, an AV9 Harrier and Typhoon, then nose art from a P40 and a Tempest 2 in the next hangar.
Fully moved into the WW2 hall here, with a Tempest 1, one of the only Spitfire Mark XXIVs ever built, a P-47, Beaufighter and a Canadian Supermarine Stanraer, again because muh patriotism.
The first mass-produced helicopter, an Avro variant of a Spanish gyrocopter, a Lightning, BF-109, and the Fiat Cr.42 "Pipe Organ", one of the last biplane fighters to see frontline combat.
A 22k-pounder Grand Slam earthquake bomb, and a B-24 Liberator the museum recently got from India. Gonna have to split the images up a bit 'cause I have some weird file size issues.
The museum's JU-87, one of only 2 left. Unfortunately, most of the overhead lighting near it seemed to be out, with the result that everything near it had this odd green tinge. Not sure what was up, but I tried to colour-correct as best I could.
Ditto with the HE-111. Aaaand I accidentally saved them at too high a quality. Ah well.
Okay, back to regular 5-image posts, sorry about that.
Their Fairey Battle has what looks to be a remote-controlled machine gun slung below the underside of the bombardier's cockpit, a feature I've never seen before on a Battle- anyone know what variant or model had that, or if it's a field modification?
There's also a BF-110 with radar, a Mosquito of course, and the Avro Vulcan, most aesthetic of the V-Bombers. This thing just dwarfs everything else in the building. It's so large there's a rest area in the bomb bay with seats for 20 people.
With a wide shot of the Vulcan- you can also see the FW 190 and the tail of their B-17, and a Volksjaeger, we come to the end of my photos from Hendon. The next three are shots from the Canada Aviation and Space Museum which I visit regularly. This particular day they were moving crates through the main hangar doors so the lighting was much better than usual. Their Swordfish, Volksjaeger and GIV night bomber look so much better in natural light, it's unbelievable. Obviously terrible for the artifacts but still.
I volunteered at the Gatineau Air Show recently, and so the last set are from my day there. A Lysander, which has a lot of history in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, another Swordfish, though unfortunately missing most of its engine, a Corsair, and an Antonov AN-2 bush plane.
Very cool stuff.
What the fuck that looks like a glamor shot complete with halo, fucking gorgeous.
Last post wouldn't let me do 5 because 'parameter incomplete', whatever that means.
Replica Nieuport 28 and Fokker DR.I from the States, a shot of some of the overall lineup, a Corsair, Mustang and Spitfire in formation I was stationed on the opposite side of the airfield from the Spit and the Mustang, didn't get any good shots and the CT-114s of the Snowbirds demonstration squadron taxiing.
It's a really pretty Swordfish to begin with, and it was the closest to the open door. They keep the CASM building really dark because a lot of the older stuff is pretty photosensitive, so when it gets bright the contrast is beautiful.
Last few shots! A P40, the Snowbirds going overhead in formation, and a shot of the apron with the sun setting.
Up next, eventually: a few photos from HMS Belfast.
I never realized that the Porsche turret for the Tiger 2 had angry little eyebrows
delet this
nikad
The "turret" may be a part of the target towing conversation done to many Battles.
Holy shit we have one of those as a monument in our base. Does it still move? Ours looks a little more rusted than that one, but it still has it's lights and mirrors.
Picture 14 is not an SE5a, which was a single seat scout. Looks more like an R.E.8 "Harry Tate" to me
If it was a target tug wouldn't it have that weird bee-stripe paint scheme?
To the best of my knowledge it is immobile, I don't think they keep any operational stuff outside.
Is it? Crap, my bad. I don't know my Royal Aircraft Factory planes that well.
I looked it up that particular Battle was never a target tug so the camo was what it flew in. Which makes my target tug idea completely wrong.
N