The Tank Museum

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]

The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum is located in Dorset
The Tank Museum
Location of The Tank Museum within Dorset
Established1947
LocationBovington, Dorset
England
Coordinates50.695194°N 2.243611°W / 50.695194; -2.243611
TypeMilitary Museum
Public transit accessWool railway station
Websitewww.tankmuseum.org

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 was appointed an OBE.[3] David Fletcher, who had been a historian at the museum since 1982, retired in 2012 and was also appointed an MBE "for his services to the history of armoured warfare".[4]

The museum established its own YouTube channel to teach about the tanks in January 2010.[5] Early episodes were largely one-take affairs of museum staff talking about specific tanks in the collection and their role in history, with notable series led by Fletcher called "Tank Chats." The channel has more YouTube subscribers than famous museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Louvre; and has gained over 100 million views across its videos by April 2023, the first museum channel to hit such a milestone.[6]

Exhibition halls
Tiger 131 and Sherman 'Fury' Tank
The Tank Museum is home to the world's only Tiger 131.
WW2 Story Hall

World War I Hall (Tank Men)

As well as containing the majority of the museum's World War I tanks the hall tells the story of the men who crewed the first tanks between 1916 and 1918.[7]

Inter War Hall (War Horse to Horsepower)

This hall explores the rise of the tank and the role of the cavalry on the Western Front.[8]

World War II Hall
Two tanks
Tanks in Popular Culture Exhibition.

This hall displays the largest section, with tanks from most nations involved in that conflict.[9]

Battlegroup Afghanistan
RAC Memorial Room

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.[10]

Cold War Hall

Collection of vehicles from the Cold and Gulf War.[11]

Tanks For the Memories - Tanks in Popular Culture Exhibition

New for 2023, “Tanks for the Memories: The Tank in Popular Culture”, was created for the 100th anniversary of The Tank Museum. It is an exhibition looking at how the tank has become a cultural icon through the manufacture of multiple toys, games, models, and the production of works of art, books, comics, video games and films.[12]

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:[13]

Royal Armoured Corps Memorial Room

The Memorial Room was created in partnership with the Royal Armoured Corps Memorial Trust and commemorates the sacrifice of almost 13,000 Royal Armoured Corps soldiers who died in service since the Corps was founded in 1939. The Memorial Room houses the Books of Remembrance, a digitised and searchable version of the Roll of Honour, and videos about those who fought in the RAC.[14]

The Vehicle Conservation Centre
The interior of 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:[15]

Film

The museum's collection includes Tiger 131, the only surviving Tiger I tank in operable condition, which appeared in the 2014 film Fury, and the replica Mark IV tank built for the film War Horse.[16][17]

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. "Museum History". The Tank Museum. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  3. "Lt. Col. George Forty OBE FMA". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  4. "David Fletcher Honoured". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  5. "Tank Museum". YouTube. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  6. Marshall, Alex (12 September 2023). "This Museum Has 300 Tanks and Over 100 Million YouTube Views". The New York Times.
  7. "Tank Men". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  8. "War Horse to Horsepower". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  9. "Second World War". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  10. "Battlegroup Afghanistan". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  11. "Dorset's Tank Museum gets new Centurion Panzer 57/60 for display". Planet Radio. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  12. "New activities on offer at The Tank Museum in Dorset". Dorset Echo. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  13. "The Tank Story". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  14. "Royal Armoured Corps Memorial Room and Roll of Honour". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  15. "The Vehicle Conservation Centre". The Tank Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  16. "'War Horse' tank to go on display". Dorset Echo. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  17. Moss, Richard (10 January 2012). "Tank Museum acquires replica Mark IV World War I Tank from Steven Spielberg's War Horse". Culture24. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
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