Bovington Tank Museum

[dcrfan]

9 hours ago, Circloy said:

@dcrfan prefered your orginal posting from Feb last year, conjured up all sorts of images, none to do with modelling - at least not the sort that goes on around here.

'one of my teachers was an old English sinister.'  Did I write that??  I can assure you my poor spelling is not a reflection of her commitment to teach me.  We did hours after school in her small flat on the school grounds trying sort out my spelling.  I was just there for a bowl of her outstanding oxtail soup☺️ 

Edited February 1, 2021 by dcrfan

[dcrfan]

6 hours ago, pbrowne said:

 

Mmm, very interesting.  I'm not doubting what your teacher said, but I don't think there were any houses around where TEL was killed.  Though I could be wrong as things change. Further back towards Clouds Hill, yes, there is the old Knowles cottage, but that's about it.  That is the one house down the slope a bit on the other side of the road from TEL's place.... .... 

 

Google satellite view of that area:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/search/clouds+hill/@50.715678,-2.2519067,723m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

 

The house opposite Clouds Hill in the above satellite view was I believe Sgt Knowles' cottage and where the spring was, but which I think has dried up from the Pine plantation at the top of the hill and the new road...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well I'll be buggered.  I never knew the scene was so close to Bovington Camp.  I'm kicking myself as I had three days in Bovington at the end of a four month exchange with the British Army (mainly in BOAR) back in the late 1970s so I could have visited the site. From later research I also question the story she told noting that she was only a young child when it occurred so appreciation of distance from their house may not be correct.  Unfortunately this 1919 map (there is also a 1945 map online) is not high enough resolution but am I imagining more houses along the road?  https://www.francisfrith.com/bovington-camp/map-of-bovington-camp-1919_pop647009

[Peter Browne]

No buggery required. I don't see any houses on that map,  perhaps they are symbols for wooded areas?

 

Here is an Ordnance Survey map from 1902, a bit early perhaps, but you can see TELs Clouds Hill hut, which then was a wood cutters hut (at B.M 227.6), and the spring on the other side where Sgt Knowles cottage would be.   Allenby Barracks at Bovington is 1.9 km south of Clouds Hill down King George V Road (King George's Road as it was then, that went through the centre of the camp).

 

 

https://maps.nls.uk/view/101447042

 

One of Bovington from Ordnance Survey in 1930, but doesn't go north of Bovington Camp.  Note that Bovington Lane becomes King George's Road:

 

 

https://maps.nls.uk/view/101447282

 

A photo of the accident crash site in 1935 (Daily Herald 1935).  You can see the winding and undulating nature of the road, which has since been straightened, leveled and widened (reminds me of Waterloo...) now called King George V Road. 

 

Alas, no houses...

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by pbrowne

[Phil1960]

Thank you nuuuumannn for sharing.

Do you have some more pics of Elefant as I'm working on Tamiya kit and sharp details will be very appreciated.

Ciao

Filippo

[Peter Browne]

24 minutes ago, Phil1960 said:

Thank you nuuuumannn for sharing.

Do you have some more pics of Elefant as I'm working on Tamiya kit and sharp details will be very appreciated.

Ciao

Filippo

 

I think the Elefant was returned to Fort Lee in the USA after the loan to Bovington in January 2019.  I didn't see it at Bovington when I visited in 2014

 

There are some pics at:

 

 

[Peter Browne]

3 hours ago, dcrfan said:

...I'm kicking myself as I had three days in Bovington at the end of a four month exchange with the British Army (mainly in BOAR) back in the late 1970s so I could have visited the site....

 

I assume you served in the RNZAC then?  Bulldogs or Centurions, or something else?  At Bovington I guess the tanks were Chieftains, I have always liked the lines of the Centurion which we used in Vietnam.

[rayprit]

For those of you intererested The Tank Museum has its own YouTube channel where it discusses every piece of machinery in the museum.  Each type is givena 20-30 minute history and breakdown of the type, They must have over 100 documenteries on there, they do a walk around of the museum, breakdown of staff members and how they came to be working at the museum...............................an ideal way to dip into 30 mins of interesting fact............having served for numerous years on tanks in the 60s-70s I personally like the breakdown of the Crocadile flame thrower.................see what you think and dip into there archives

 

 

 

 

[dcrfan]

18 hours ago, pbrowne said:

 

I assume you served in the RNZAC then?  Bulldogs or Centurions, or something else?  At Bovington I guess the tanks were Chieftains, I have always liked the lines of the Centurion which we used in Vietnam.

Yeah.  Over the years M113 family, Ferret, M41, Scorpion and latterly NZLAV.  While I was on exchange I spent my time at a Recce Regt which had Scorpion, Simitar, Saracen and Ferret.  The tanks Regts had Chieftains but the heavy support vehicles were still Centurion based - bridge, ARV and ARVE.  

[Kingsman]

On 2/1/2021 at 9:08 AM, Phil1960 said:

Do you have some more pics of Elefant as I'm working on Tamiya kit and sharp details will be very appreciated.

Are any of these helpful?

[Phil1960]

Thank you so much Das Abteilung👍

I was wondering why all wheels lack a bolt on internal ring🤔

Ciao

Filippo

[Kingsman]

Now that is a remarkably interesting question.  I hadn't actually noticed them missing.  I can't imagine it's original.  Can't think of a reason why.

[dcrfan]

_{Road tax}

[Kingsman]

No-one is taxing my nuts.....

[Cerberus]

On 02/02/2021 at 17:42, Phil1960 said:

I was wondering why all wheels lack a bolt on internal ring

 

 6 wheel sets on each side, so 12 wheels sets in total, each wheel set has 12 bolts on that internal ring, so during restoration they lost one set of 12 bolts, so they then simply stole one bolt from each of the remaining 11 wheels.

 

 That kinda works, maybe

 

  Matt 

[spruecutter96]

If you look at the right wheel in the picture, it has two "empty" holes, which do not correspond to the spacing of the circle of bolts - this suggests to me that the holes are an intentional part of the wheels design. Could these be lubrication points or something similar?

 

Maybe more knowledge folk than me can shed some light on this...

 

Chris. 

[Cerberus]

1 hour ago, spruecutter96 said:

If you look at the right wheel in the picture, it has two "empty" holes, which do not correspond to the spacing of the circle of bolts

 

 That's on the wheel axle hub caps, and yes there are a few bolts missing on those as well, plus the two strange holes that do not correspond with bolts, as you mention, which I think are present on every hub cap but most of them are filled with paint so they are hard to see.

 

 Matt 

[spruecutter96]

My misunderstanding, Matt. 

 

Chris. 

[Tim R-T-C]

Since overseas trips seem daft to plan at present, I'm planning to make the Bovington pilgrimage in November.

 

There was talk earlier in the thread of sections being closed - has this now reopened?

[Kingsman]

The Museum is fully open again since July.  The closures mentioned were during the first part of the WW2 hall redevelopment but the second part of that was actually completed during the last lockdown closure.  I am not aware that they have any redevelopment etc plans over this winter season.  I'm sure that money is tight after almost a year of lost admissions.  Although I for one would like to see greater Cold War content somehow.  There is so much Cold War stuff in storage in the Conservation Centre.

[Cyberduck]

Check their website to see if they are still having tours of the Conservation Centre. There is a viewing area in one corner where you can look down on the reserve collection, but in the past people have been able to go down into the storage area

[Kingsman]

From what I have seen the VCC balcony is generally open weekday afternoons for a couple of hours but seemingly not at weekends at the moment.  The VCC floor is usually only open on Tiger Days and Tankfest weekend or as part of their Behind The Scenes tour package including the workshop, archive and supporting collection of small items.

[Cometracer]

I was most impressed with the massing of Tiger based vehicles at Bovington for their show.  It was fantastic.  The other photos are excellent and show a well organised tour of the area.  Thanks for sharing.