BOVINGTON TIGER DAY
31st March 2012
Review by Simon Fenwick
Photography by Jeremy Welsman
Photography by Jeremy Welsman
Nearly 2000 visitors attended The Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset to see the museum's newly restored Tiger I.
Museum Curator David Willey said "the Tiger tank has again shown that it is a vehicle which continues to captivate visitors. Wh know Allied tank crews genuinely feared an encounter with a Tiger and it is this mighty reputation that has endured and given rise to such fascination with this particular vehicle."
Museum Curator David Willey said "the Tiger tank has again shown that it is a vehicle which continues to captivate visitors. Wh know Allied tank crews genuinely feared an encounter with a Tiger and it is this mighty reputation that has endured and given rise to such fascination with this particular vehicle."
With normal museum charges applying on the day and various representatives of the museum's fleet of running tanks being displayed, the number of visitors far exceeded those for a normal weekend in March.
The first tank to take to the arena was the Matilda I. The museum's version of this diminutive tank was built in 1940 and restored to running condition in the 1980s' Displaying the markings of the 4th RTR from May 1940, it also carries the 'Chinese Eye' on the turret which was a tradition dating back to WWI when a Chinese businessman donated money to Britain for the purchase of tanks, said that they needed the eye to see where they were going! The Matilda I was generally regarded as being pretty useless for its intended role. With only a two man crew of driver and commander, the commander ended up having to act as loader, gunner and radio operator which was a virtually impossible workload. Armament was limited to a single machine gun - useless against other tanks - and the top speed was a mere 8mph.
Next there was the Matilda II 'The Queen Of The Desert' - a name it gained from its service in the Western Desert from Autumn 1949 to Spring 1941. The Matilda II still only had a speed of 8mph and its gun was only a 2 pounder. However, it's armour was impervious to all that the enemy could fire at it until the German 88mm 'flak' gun came into major use.
Continuing the British tank theme, the A34 Comet was also displayed. Deliveries began in September 1944 and it entered service with 11th Armoured Division in the spring of 1945. the Comet participated in the final actions of WWII but they were too late to play a prominent part in the war. They were well liked by their crews and were considered compatible with the German Panther with a good turn of speed and its 77mm gun.
The final British tank on show was the hugely successful Centurion. Entering service in 1945, but just too late for WWII, it continued to be used by the British Army until the early 60s.
In addition to the British and German tanks (see below), there were three battle tanks which were not manufactured in Britain. These were the museum's late model Sherman, T-34 and Leopard C2
As a prelude to the main event, the museum brought out their Panzer III medium tank. This is an early production example and saw service with the German 8th Panzer Regt. in North Africa. It was captured by the British Army and shipped to Britain. The museum have restored it to running order in its correct camouflage.
Finally, it was the turn of the star of the day, the mighty Tiger I. The museum has spent the last couple of years carrying out a painstaking restoration 'under the skin'. the work was funded with grants from the Heritage Lottery and PRISM Funds, but a further £30,000 was donated by museum supporters. David Willey commented, "We have learned a huge amount about the tiger, its operation and engineering. Whilst the Tiger will always be mechanically a tricky vehicle, apart from a last minute blown fuse, there were no major problems on the day."
30th June and 1st July sees the 10th Anniversary of Tankfest when there will be several machines from the museum's collection take to the arena and be run for the first time in many years. Following the 2011 appearance of the Tortoise, the 2012 event will see the debut of 'Black Prince'. For the first time the day's closing battle re-enactment will feature action on the ground and in the air. Depicting a WWI scene, there promises to be explosions aplenty with trench warfare and battlefield scenes with the Great War Display Team with their replica British and German aircraft of the period conducting a dogfight overhead.
