Bovington Visit 2020

Discussion in 'WW2 Museums. Events, & places to see.' started by von Poop, Sep 5, 2020.

  1. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Good show, Adam.
    I know you could have probably used 8 or 10 more days there.
    Did the Fishwife hurry you along any?
     
  2. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    I really like the Char B's condition, as it's so original.
    There's a chap on the restoration scene called Bob Grundy, and his vehicles always seemed to be in good mechanical order but with as much original 'patina' as possible. Much to be said for the approach, I think, It can certainly live alongside the 'better than new' approach favoured by many.
    (Not so sure the Italian flamethrower is in any sort of original paint order. Though I quite like it's worn aesthetic.)

    Think it's a PaK43/41 (No info board on it that we could see). 88 rammed onto a LeFH 18 carriage.


    She gets very good marks, actually.
    Appreciation & interest was shown (she is, after all, a massive history nerd too - if weirdly interested in the C16th) though whether just being polite you're never quite certain... Did seem to like the WW1 stuff, and the 'What the bloody hell is that?' for Tiger was funny. If anything, we probably hurried along so as not to inflict too much tankishness on her.
     
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  3. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    cough...150mm sFH 18...cough...
     
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  4. SteveDee

    SteveDee Well-Known Member

    ...and a few more from last Wednesday...

    A NATO tank (or possibly something from a 1970s episode of Dr Who)

    NATO_tank.jpg


    Son of a Gun...
    Son_of_a_Gun.jpg


    Early Renault Megan prototype...
    RenaultTank.jpg


    Everyone loves a Roller...
    Roller.jpg


    I guess this is a track tensioner...
    CatTracks.jpg


    An M.O.T. failure...
    BlueTankTruck.jpg


    RearLights.jpg


    WW1 exhibition...
    Officer.jpg


    Sheltering.jpg


    TrenchDeath.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2020
  5. George Blake

    George Blake Member

    Some great pics here so far. I had the fortune / misfortune to visit today and was sorely disappointed with the direction the museum is taking. They have painted the ceiling of the oldest building and done what so many other museums are doing and put up large colourful boards covered with text and period photos as well as trying to organise the WW2 hall chronologically. They have also bought in the mock-up early Churchill that once stood outside as well as a Churchill with a Petard but at what cost? Well, the following is a list of vehicles (not exhaustive) that WERE in the museum less than a year ago and have now disappeared (probably to the the big shed where you can only see the top of them) -

    King Tiger (loan to Holland)
    KV-1
    SU-76
    Black Prince!!!
    M46
    Valiant
    Mantis
    M8 Greyhound
    DUKW
    Finnish Stug 3
    Finnish T26
    Matilda Canal Defence Light
    Pershing
    Centurion Mk1
    Australian Sentinel
    Along with a handful of armoured cars...

    Entering the WW2 hall used to have a 'Wow' factor, a few years ago you walked through the doors and were staring down the barrel of a King Tiger. When that was moved to the Tiger collection you were staring down the barrel of a Pershing, now you walk down a corridor of period pictures and text that you could read in a book only to see the back of a Matilda 1.

    I hope that this is merely stage 1 of the redesign and that the above tanks will find their way back but I fear the spacing and layout of the hall can't accommodate them and they will be forever lost in the back corner of a shed. At the end of the day, it's a TANK museum with fewer TANKS on display after every redesign / exhibit.
     
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  6. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    Sad.

    A trend in the states is to have a video playing loudly in a continuous loop at an exhibit. The soundtrack is often a period newscast or the sound of gunfire, helicopters, etc. It's annoying enough when you are standing in front of it but you hear it repeated over and over again throughout the exhibit hall.

    The West Point campus used to have hundreds of trophy cannons from the French and Indian wars all the way through WWII and now there isn't one left.

    GEEZER ALERT! GEEZER ALERT!
     
  7. SteveDee

    SteveDee Well-Known Member



    I can't remember how many years since our last visit, but was disappointed that there were no audio guides(ie with headphones, giving relevant stories and first hand accounts). Don't know if this was just due to covid or if they have scrapped them.
     
  8. George Blake

    George Blake Member

    Great news!!! As of May 2021 the Mk1 Centurion has found its way back into the museum! Unfortunately, none of the others from my post above have materialised. We talked to one of the guides / friends of the museum who told us that the exhibits were now focused around the RTR as opposed to general WW2 so no Russian (outside of a T34/85). Such a shame, how can a museum not make space for vehicles that are unique in the UK, some are even unique globally yet they display 7 Shermans, 6 Centurions and 4 Churchills. I can't count the number of times I've seen Bovington show off the Boarhound armoured car on their social media, 'experimental' 'unique' 'one-off' yet it's not on display...
     
  9. Marco

    Marco Senior Member

    Hi George, do you have more info on the King Tiger loan to Holland?

    Thanks!

    Ah, never mind. Found it. It is in the National Military Museum, Soesterberg.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2021
  10. chrisgrove

    chrisgrove Senior Member

    BFG. You remarked that it had been on display outside the School of Infantry at Warminster. It's been a while and I'm not getting any younger, but I'm sure I remember it at the Support Weapons Wing of the School of Infantry at Netheravon.
    Chris
     
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  11. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    For some reason I was thinking about the gun outside Netheravon today.
    I knew it was mentioned on the forum & glad I found your post.
     
  12. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Bugger.
    Pottered onto this thread looking for something else.
    Now I want to go to Bov again.

    Wish I did have a reason to be fancy and visit the library, but I don't.
    Just want to stare at the world's best museum collection. And maybe work out how the F that Holt works.

    Might help.
    Might not...
    'Care and Operation of the Caterpillar 75 Tractor - Holt & Co. 1917'
     

    Attached Files:

  13. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    You need to enlist David Fletcher. He loves early steam vehicles. I have a subscription to an obscure modeling magazine and he has a regular feature discuss weird early steam/tracked vehicles. And maybe he still has security clearance ;)
     

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