Bovington

Sunday 30th June - Bovington

Both Paul and I have been to Bovington a couple of times. My first was in 1980 and it has grown spectacularly since then. It has a magnificent new gallery, a new repair centre due to open in September and many other features.

But Tankfest is something again. Tanks in their element, moving, rather than just stationary.

We had Premium tickets, which meant that we had seats in shade for two-thirds of the day. We got lunch, drinks, and a closer car park. We thought it worth the money. I spent most of the day not in the seat so that we could get different perspectives of the action.

 The Scorpion light tank served the British Army for many years, including during the Falklands war, where its low ground pressure was a great advantage in swampy terrain. It has been replaced by the Scimitar, which is basically the same vehicle with a RARDEN 30mm cannon instead of a rather ancient 76mm.

 This is a Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle, the standard vehicle for the British Army and equivalent to a Bradley.

 This Challenger 2 was one of the stars of the show.

 This Warrior has a full set of anti-RPG gear.

 I snapped this M-60A3 in the vehicle park, complete with massive IR searchlight on the mantlet.

 The Matilda I was surprisingly fast (given it has a maximum speed of 8mph) and maneuverable.

 The Honey wasn't going flat out but it was still impressively fast.

 PzKw III.

 A sight guaranteed to make any AFB enthusiast's heart pound faster: a Tiger.

 The Comet was the final British cruiser tank of the war and by far the best. Unfortunately it didn't reach the troops until March 1945, which was just unforgiveable.

 I think Centurions need more effective dustguards. It and the engineer vehicles kicked up more dust than any other tanks.

 The Chieftain had a truly rotten engine but heavy armour and a good gun.

 This is actually a Swiss tank, a Pz 61 which was a contemporary of the Leopard and M-61 and the improved Pz 68 but eventually got out of tank production and bought Leopard 2s.

 The MOWAG heavy armoured car has been sensationally successful, seeing service with the US Army and Marine Corps, the Canadian Army and the Australian Army among many others.

 Another shot of the dreadful little Matilda I.

And the museum's BMP-1, actually a Czech variant with a smaller gun than the original.

I'll upload some video from the finale in a separate post.