As promised here is a slideshow of all my pictures from Tiger Day at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset. I had to be pretty ruthless to cut down all the pictures I shot to make the final selection you see here. I've posted some of the best pictures over the last two days with my review of Tiger Day Part 1 and Part 2 but this slideshow includes many more pictures not yet seen.
As you may have gathered from my enthusiasm for this event I was really looking forward to Tiger Day. My wonderful wife not only let me off the leash to geek-out to my hearts content she also bought me the tickets! And then - having been away for two days - she didn't bat an eyelid when I meekly told her I had a game with the Rejects all day on Sunday. She truly is the perfect wife... All Hail Mrs BigLee!
Tomorrow I'll post pictures from the D-Day Museum which Ray and I visited on the Friday before Tiger Day.
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Tiger Day Picture Review - Part 2
Yesterday I posted pictures from the first half of Tiger Day. After our first look at the Tiger, lectures from the likes of David Willey and a slap up lunch we went out to watch the days tank display in the arena. As Premium Ticket holders we had our own roped off viewing area at the top of the slope outside the balcony area where we had lunch. The view from here was good (elevated and nobody in the way) but at nearly 100m from the tanks it just felt too far from the action... so I ducked under the rope, joined the great unwashed masses and got right down the front for a much better and closer view of the display.
Things got off to a shaky start as the first tank out, the Matilda (Infantry Tank Mark I A11), was having engine problems. Steam was poring out of the engine compartment and the two crewmen were clearly having difficulty coaxing their 76 year old tank back to life. This vehicle was manufactured in 1938 by Vickers Armstrongs Ltd. but ended its service as a target on the the Otterburn Ranges! It was subsequently recovered and restored to running order although the engine and gearbox are not original.
Next in the arena was the Matilda II (Infantry Tank Mark II A12). At the end of 1936 the War Office recognised the need for a better armed and better protected tank than the Matilda. The result was the Matilda II which went on to develop a reputation as a superb tank in the early part of the war. It carried the 2pdr gun which was considered one of the best anti-tank guns in the world at the time. However as a tank designed for infantry support the gun suffered from its inability to fire HE rounds. Due to its small size the gun could not be upgraded and once the Afrika Korps started using the 88mm gun in an anti tank role the usefulness of the Matilda II was soon reduced. This particular tank was manufactured in 1939 by the North British Locomotive Company.
The Panzer III (Sd Kfz 141/1 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf L) was originally conceived in 1934 as the principle combat tank of the Panzer divisions. It was armed with a 50mm Gun (KwK39 L/60) that fired armour piercing projectiles. This particular vehicle was manufactured in June of 1942 by MAN in Nuremburg and was sent to Bengazi in July 1942. It was issued to the 8th Panzer Regiment and probably fought at Alam Halfa before its capture by the British.
The T34/85 was one of Russia's best tanks during the Second World War. Produced in vast numbers it was easy to build and easy to use. Its diesel engine was ideal for the cold Russian winters and in fact was so good the same engine was being used right up to the mid 60's. The original turret design accommodated two drew and a 76mm gun making it a formidable opponent. However later models were upgraded to a three man turret with an 85mm gun making this a truly war winning weapon. Later in the day I had a chance to ask David Fletcher the museums Librarian (and author of countless books on tanks and tank warfare) which tank he thought was the best of the war. He answered that it was unquestionably the T34/85.
This M4 Sherman (76mm) regularly trots round the arena at Bovington and is as agile as it was when first built which is a testament to the reliability and robustness of the M4's design. Like the T34 it was produced in vast numbers and when it first saw action was undoubtedly one of the best tanks on the battlefield. By the end of the war it was being outclassed by other tanks but the Sherman proved its worth because it was so adaptable. Variants of the Sherman abound including a range of AVRE's, the swimming DD's and the British Firefly.
The A34 Comet was one of the best British tanks of the Second World War, unfortunately it entered service far too late to have a significant impact on the outcome of the conflict. This is the Model IB and was manufactured by Leyland Motors although I can't find a record of when it was built it was probably late 1944. The Comet entered service in the spring of 1945 and continued in use until 1960.
The first German tank build after the war was the Leopard Main Battle Tank. Gone was the obsession with armour and the gun, instead this design focused on speed as its key attribute. This tank is actually a Canadian combination of the 1A5 turret attached to a Leopard 1A3 chassis and was manufactured sometime in the 1970's by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.
Having been teased with all these other great vehicles it was finally time for Tiger 131 to come out and wow the crowds. Even compared to modern tanks like the Leopard the Tiger looks menacing. Its squat boxy design may have been out of date by the time the tank saw service but there is no denying the psychological impact this beast had on those that faced it.
Tiger 131 was manufactured in February 1943 by Henschel and Sohn , Kassel. It was sent to Tunisia at some time between March 22nd and April 16th 1943 where it was issued to the 3rd Platoon, 1st Kompanie, Schwere Panzer Abteilung 504 of the German Army. It was captured by 48 RTR at Djebel Djaffa, Tunisia, on 21st April 1943 and was quickly shipped back to England for assessment. It was restored to running order in 1992 but the latest round of restoration has seen the tank brought back to a much more original condition (see yesterdays post for more details).
A total of 1,354 Tiger I tanks were built between July 1942 and May 1944 and the Museum’s example is the only one of the six surviving Tiger I tanks that is capable of running. As such it was an incredible privilege to see this vehicle in action and even more so to be able to get up close and personal with it.
Tomorrow I'll post a slideshow of all my photo's from this event including many that I haven't posted here yet. It could be argued that I got a little trigger happy with my two camera's but I take the view that you can never have enough photo's of tanks!
Things got off to a shaky start as the first tank out, the Matilda (Infantry Tank Mark I A11), was having engine problems. Steam was poring out of the engine compartment and the two crewmen were clearly having difficulty coaxing their 76 year old tank back to life. This vehicle was manufactured in 1938 by Vickers Armstrongs Ltd. but ended its service as a target on the the Otterburn Ranges! It was subsequently recovered and restored to running order although the engine and gearbox are not original.
Next in the arena was the Matilda II (Infantry Tank Mark II A12). At the end of 1936 the War Office recognised the need for a better armed and better protected tank than the Matilda. The result was the Matilda II which went on to develop a reputation as a superb tank in the early part of the war. It carried the 2pdr gun which was considered one of the best anti-tank guns in the world at the time. However as a tank designed for infantry support the gun suffered from its inability to fire HE rounds. Due to its small size the gun could not be upgraded and once the Afrika Korps started using the 88mm gun in an anti tank role the usefulness of the Matilda II was soon reduced. This particular tank was manufactured in 1939 by the North British Locomotive Company.
The Panzer III (Sd Kfz 141/1 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf L) was originally conceived in 1934 as the principle combat tank of the Panzer divisions. It was armed with a 50mm Gun (KwK39 L/60) that fired armour piercing projectiles. This particular vehicle was manufactured in June of 1942 by MAN in Nuremburg and was sent to Bengazi in July 1942. It was issued to the 8th Panzer Regiment and probably fought at Alam Halfa before its capture by the British.
The T34/85 was one of Russia's best tanks during the Second World War. Produced in vast numbers it was easy to build and easy to use. Its diesel engine was ideal for the cold Russian winters and in fact was so good the same engine was being used right up to the mid 60's. The original turret design accommodated two drew and a 76mm gun making it a formidable opponent. However later models were upgraded to a three man turret with an 85mm gun making this a truly war winning weapon. Later in the day I had a chance to ask David Fletcher the museums Librarian (and author of countless books on tanks and tank warfare) which tank he thought was the best of the war. He answered that it was unquestionably the T34/85.
This M4 Sherman (76mm) regularly trots round the arena at Bovington and is as agile as it was when first built which is a testament to the reliability and robustness of the M4's design. Like the T34 it was produced in vast numbers and when it first saw action was undoubtedly one of the best tanks on the battlefield. By the end of the war it was being outclassed by other tanks but the Sherman proved its worth because it was so adaptable. Variants of the Sherman abound including a range of AVRE's, the swimming DD's and the British Firefly.
The A34 Comet was one of the best British tanks of the Second World War, unfortunately it entered service far too late to have a significant impact on the outcome of the conflict. This is the Model IB and was manufactured by Leyland Motors although I can't find a record of when it was built it was probably late 1944. The Comet entered service in the spring of 1945 and continued in use until 1960.
The first German tank build after the war was the Leopard Main Battle Tank. Gone was the obsession with armour and the gun, instead this design focused on speed as its key attribute. This tank is actually a Canadian combination of the 1A5 turret attached to a Leopard 1A3 chassis and was manufactured sometime in the 1970's by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.
Having been teased with all these other great vehicles it was finally time for Tiger 131 to come out and wow the crowds. Even compared to modern tanks like the Leopard the Tiger looks menacing. Its squat boxy design may have been out of date by the time the tank saw service but there is no denying the psychological impact this beast had on those that faced it.
Tiger 131 was manufactured in February 1943 by Henschel and Sohn , Kassel. It was sent to Tunisia at some time between March 22nd and April 16th 1943 where it was issued to the 3rd Platoon, 1st Kompanie, Schwere Panzer Abteilung 504 of the German Army. It was captured by 48 RTR at Djebel Djaffa, Tunisia, on 21st April 1943 and was quickly shipped back to England for assessment. It was restored to running order in 1992 but the latest round of restoration has seen the tank brought back to a much more original condition (see yesterdays post for more details).
A total of 1,354 Tiger I tanks were built between July 1942 and May 1944 and the Museum’s example is the only one of the six surviving Tiger I tanks that is capable of running. As such it was an incredible privilege to see this vehicle in action and even more so to be able to get up close and personal with it.
Tomorrow I'll post a slideshow of all my photo's from this event including many that I haven't posted here yet. It could be argued that I got a little trigger happy with my two camera's but I take the view that you can never have enough photo's of tanks!
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Tiger Day Picture Review - Part 1
This is the first of two posts showcasing some of the pictures I took at the Tank Museum's Tiger Day event on Saturday. As Premium ticket holders my Brother-in-Law and I had special access to the Tiger Tank, a programme of lectures by the likes of David Willy and David Fletcher and the chance to talk to members of the restoration team throughout the day.
Our day started at 08:15, nearly two hours before the public had access to the museum. Over bacon rolls and coffee we were given an introductory talk by David Willey outlining the itinerary for the day and introducing us to the team that could be consulted at any point of we had questions (kudos to them all, they were brilliant!). Then we were split into two groups and while one half went off for the first lecture of the day the other half (myself included) were taken down to the Tank Story hall and given a detailed look to some of the vehicles.
One thing I wasn't expecting was the chance to look inside the Tiger and the Panther. The hatches were opened and after climbing up a ladder we were able to poke our head and shoulders inside the turret for a good look around. The original 'restoration' of this vehicle was more concerned with the running of the tank but this time the emphasis was on a proper historical rebuild of the inside of the crew compartment as well as the engine. Items like the commanders flash curtain have been restored and the fire suppression system that was installed during the first restoration has been removed. This latter change has improved maintenance access as well as returning the inside of the tank to a historically accurate condition.
The level of detail inside this vehicle has to be seen to be believed. Bare in mind this vehicle was repainted by the British shortly after its capture so all the paintwork we see now has been painstakingly recreated from original photographs and historical documents, many of them in German. Even the numbered 'plugging points' (to make the tank waterproof for deep wading) have been recreated.
The engine was also fully refurbished and entirely new gearboxes had to be constructed to run the cooling fan system. No original gearboxes could be sourced for this so the museum found German wartime blueprints and located a British engineering firm to build the parts from scratch. This wasn't as easy as its sounds. All German tanks were essentially hand made and so there is no such thing as accuracy and consistency. Blueprints are no help if the parts end up 1/100th 'out' of true!
While I was waiting my turn to get inside the Tiger I was lucky enough to have a chat with Paul Duncan the museum engineer tasked with rebuilding the gearboxes. He said it was a massively difficult task for a such a small part of this tank.
The most enlightening thing he told me however was that the rebuild process had made him realise just how over-engineered the Tiger was. The Gearbox had two oil pumps inside it but none of the engineering team could see the point of the second pump as the first one did the job just fine! Extrapolate this over engineering across the whole vehicle and you begin to understand why it was so expensive both money and material to build.
After this up-close-and-personal experience my group was whisked off to the Churchill Room for the first of the days Lectures by the Museums curator David Willey. He explained the broad scope of the restoration process, its highs and lows and most importantly why they were focusing on this one German tank when they have hundreds of others to choose from.
As you may imagine the short answer is that the Tiger pulls in visitors that would not otherwise come to the museum. And this broad audience is a vitally important tick in the 'educational' category when the Heritage Lottery Fund are being asked for money... in short without the Tiger the money to build the new wing would not have been forthcoming. This latest restoration and the crowds it brings in will help secure even more Lottery funding for further expansion of the museum to get more tanks on display. It will also fund improvements to the workshops meaning that in the long run even more tanks can be restored and returned to running condition.
After the lectures we had an excellent lunch and half hour to explore the museum on our own before the main arena display in the afternoon. I'll post pictures from that in the next post but in the meantime I hope you enjoyed this first look at Tiger Day as much as I enjoyed being there!
Monday, 2 April 2012
Tiger Day video of Tiger 131
As you may have gathered from my rabid mumbling of late, I was at the Tank Museum in Bovington at the weekend. The only running Tiger Tank, Tiger 131, is resident at the Museum and has recently completed its second round of restoration. I'm currently working my way through a lot of photo's but I have been able to upload a couple of videos of the Tiger which are embedded below for your viewing pleasure!
The second video was shot by me after the public display. As a Premium ticket holder I and a few others had an excellent - and very close - view of the Tiger as it was reentered the museum buildings. I'm not sure if my video does this maneuver justice. The driver swung this 57 tonne beast round and through the doors of the museum with just inches to spare as if he were parking a mini in a garage!
The first video was shot by my Brother-in-law Ray as the Tiger roared its way around the arena. He also captured some views of the other vehicles that took part in the display. I have several shorter videos of these and I'll upload them over the next few days.
The second video was shot by me after the public display. As a Premium ticket holder I and a few others had an excellent - and very close - view of the Tiger as it was reentered the museum buildings. I'm not sure if my video does this maneuver justice. The driver swung this 57 tonne beast round and through the doors of the museum with just inches to spare as if he were parking a mini in a garage!
The noise of that Maybach engine has to be felt to be believed!!
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