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Bovington Tank Museum reserve collection


happydayz123

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Not in the reserve -dump compound a Covenantor or early Crusader turret and a section of tortoise track -in the 1960s when I first got to bovington they had a nice instructive out door display of basic British tank turrets although this Crusader wasn't one, several Churchill turrets and the Crusader 3 in the reserve compound were part of the display.

 

also nearbye was the Matilda A11 planter -don't know if that's still around these days.

 

Covenantor or early Crusader turret.jpg

mailda A11.jpg

Edited by steveo578
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So the list published earlier is even more fictitious?

 

Yes I remember that well:( if i remember correctly a fair bit of work was done on the FV401 and Oxford.

 

The last I recall was the U/E was on display next to the Char B1bis (which is currently elsewhere) and Universal was in the British section with a Cromwell -but its been a long long time since I've been to the museum.

 

Steve

I do not know how to split up a quote to comment on each sentence so:

Not sure where the list came from I am afraid but it did contain errors and ommissions as they say and was very out of date.

Universal and UE are both close to where they were.

 

You should come down, I am sure you would find the trip worthwhile. Lots of changes, some are even improvements!

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Where does Bovington stand as a legal entity? As a charity do they have to produce a stock take each year and as such should they not have a full up to date list of all there holdings to be able to put a value on it? Even if they don't have to do this one would think that as a museum focusing on large steel objects...they would have a list of every item they own. I do understand that large museums have reserve collections, some years ago I was lucky enough to see the three WW2 hangers FULL of vehicles that belonged to a transport musuem (can't remember which now as I was only 12). You can't show everything, but I do believe that it would be possible for them to pioneer a PPP style scheme where a 3rd party can take ownership of a vehicle, restore it at their expense within a given time frame afterwhich it must be returned for display at the museum although still under the ownership of the private company / person. BUT, we all know that the only vehicles people would be interested in would be WW2 German gear:-\

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Think of people with money and WW2 collections.... they seem to focus on German WW2 items. I too would put seeing a running Cromwell on a par with seeing a running Tiger 1, but I'd take a good wager that the majority of the public from Western Europe and America would go for the Tiger any day of the week.

 

Reserve Collection.

Someone organise a visit, I'm sure lots of us would like to go, perhaps John could ask the right people on our behalf? Jack hasn't got time to do everything.

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This collection would appear to have in common with so many museums the situation of storage of items. Only a small number can be displayed at any one time, others go into dry storage and other items are parked up outdoors.

While some may say its a waste and these outdoor items are deteriorating, they have been saved from other fates of destruction like otherwise being recycled as scrap to China.

While current personnel at a museum may place emphasis upon a particular theme, other areas of interest lay awaiting their turn for a change in viewpoint or a different staff.

Doug

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Hi all,

i have had visits to look at the collections in the hangers and the workshop areas as well as behind the fenced off areas and i am tending to think that people here belive there may hoards of hidden gems stored there, though some times they do i.e on one visit (sorry Brit armour guys) there was a nice origonal stug 111 with coating of zimmerite antimagnetic paste a quick inspection it appeared very origonal yet in the museum they had displayed a post war Finnish version as this one was going else wher for display.

 

With this thought in mind i think you will find all what you call interesting armour in the reserve collections would most likely be on loan to other museums/collections, though a visit is well worth while and i for one would go again.

 

Ashley

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I think though I can't be sure, the StuG 3 you refer to may be privately owned either on loan or in storage after a display - the Finnish StuG 3 is part of the collection having been gifted to the museum after assistance given in refurbishing the Finnish armour collection Comet.

 

IMO a Finnish StuG 3 is just as valid as a StuG 3 which was probably from the same source but has been re-decorated as a Wehrmacht AFV, the Finnish vehicles also served in WW2.

 

Steve

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according to chatty (sp) it was going to be restored, not that there looked much wrong with it but i belive it is in another museum at present.

 

Another factor may be that due to the good old H&S the number of vehicles exhibited would have to be in ratio to floorspace available, which if nothing else gives you a chance to get some good photos.

But there are some hidden delights i remember seeing a (cent? ) which was a project vehicle to be a turretless tank (as in the "S" tank )

 

aSHLEY

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I think though I can't be sure, the StuG 3 you refer to may be privately owned either on loan or in storage after a display - the Finnish StuG 3 is part of the collection having been gifted to the museum after assistance given in refurbishing the Finnish armour collection Comet.

 

IMO a Finnish StuG 3 is just as valid as a StuG 3 which was probably from the same source but has been re-decorated as a Wehrmacht AFV, the Finnish vehicles also served in WW2.

 

Steve

 

Iam not sure and may stand to be corrected that though the Finninh army did convert/upgrade Stugs later in life they built thier own under license...but that story is not in line with this thread.

 

Ashley

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AFAIK I assume the StuG 3 you describe is the SDKFZ fundation vehicle although it is impossible without a photo to know the exact vehicle you refer to.

 

The finns did not build any StuG 3 either during or post war they were built by Alkett, MIAG and MAN and post mods were very limited in nature -not least because they were under Soviet armastice control.

 

For all the information you'll ever need to know on Finnish StuG 3 please link to http://www.andreaslarka.net Andreas Larka's excellent sight covers virtually everything bar oil changes.

 

Steve

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A few more pictures....[ATTACH=CONFIG]33955[/ATTACH]

 

There was an article in the latest Classic Military Vehicle magazine about Churchill 3in gun carriers with a picture of this one after it had been recovered some ten years ago. It looks in a pretty similar state to what it was in when recovered looking at the two pictures!

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Just to update people on a few of the vehicles:

 

Rhino - Resprayed - currently located in the museums Tamiya hall.

 

Khalid - Resprayed (amazing paint-job) - currently located in the museums Tamiya hall.

 

There are also others pictured that now reside within the museum.

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Someone organise a visit, I'm sure lots of us would like to go, perhaps John could ask the right people on our behalf? Jack hasn't got time to do everything.

 

if this is of real interest to readers I will see what I can do - the chair of the friends is in my MVT group and should be able to pull the right strings

 

BTW I have been a continuous member of the friends since 1987 but do not do any work down there as I can only go at weekends and they have more volunteers than they can cope with at weekends and get very selective about who they want in the workshops

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I had a flyer from Bovington today advertising evening lectures @ £10 per event. But I noticed there are half day visits to the workshops & reserve collection @ £45. If you want to play with night vision equipment there is an evening on Fri 26th Nov @ £45.

You can book these on 01929 462359

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With regard to the Churchill Gun carrier -BTW excellent photo Meteor 4B, can anyone advise where exactly it came from- I was told folkstone -which I thought would be Lydd ranges and although this range had some Churchills in the late 1980-90s I am not certain about this. any ideas :???

 

Steve

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