bovington tank museum Archives - Page 4 of 22

FV101 Scorpion CVRT

The Scorpion Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (tracked) FV101 was at Bovington. Though most people would call it a light tank.

The FV101 Scorpion is a British armoured reconnaissance vehicle. It was the lead vehicle and the fire support type in the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), CVR(T), family of seven armoured vehicles. Manufactured by Alvis, it was introduced into service with the British Army in 1973 and served until 1994.

Scorpion became the first of a whole family of fighting vehicles including Scimitar, Striker and Samaritan. It served in the Falklands and the Gulf as well as being a success on the export market. Changes in British policy, and the international situation meant that surviving Scorpions were fitted with a new weapon, the 30mm Rarden Cannon, and renamed Sabre.

It has been supplied to Belgium, the Irish Republic, Malaya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman and Venezuela.

I have some Team Yankee Scorpions, they are currently in the process of being painted as BAOR versions.

Some thoughts on the RAF Regiment Scorpion I saw at RAF Cosford.

FV4201 Chieftain MBT

The FV4201 Chieftain was the main battle tank of the United Kingdom during the three decades of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. This is one on display at the Tank Museum at Bovington. A development of the Centurion, the Chieftain introduced the supine (reclining) driver position to British design allowing a heavily sloped hull with reduced height. A new powerpack and improved transmission gave it higher speed than the Centurion despite being heavier due to major upgrades to armour protection and the armament.

Still in service in the Middle East, the British Army stopped using it in 1995.

I did consider buying some for Team Yankee, but was put off by apparent issues with the smoke dischargers on the side of the turret. Certainly for a 1970s version of Team Yankee you couldn’t use the new Challenger, and would need to use the Chieftain.

More photographs of the FV4201 Chieftain at Bovington.

There was also a Chieftain on display at Duxford.

East German T-72M Main Battle Tank

After World War 2 Soviet tanks developed along logical traditional lines. In 1960 work began on a new design, the T-64, which incorporated many revolutionary and untried features but it was not a great success and in 1970 the prototype of T-72 appeared, which could be described as a simplified version of T-64. The T-72 is a family of Soviet main battle tanks that first entered production in 1971.

This T72 was on display at Bovington Tank Museum.

The Tank Museum’s vehicle is a T72M1 that was used by the former East German Army, (NVA, Nationale Volks Armee).

About 20,000 T-72 tanks have been built, and refurbishment has enabled many to remain in service for decades.

I have published an article that I wrote, which originally appeared in the January 1994 edition of Miniature Wargames. The article, entitled, It fell off the back of a lorry…. is a skirmish scenario involving gangsters, market traders as well as police and security forces in the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Oh it involves a T-90 tank which is an up-armoured version of the T-72.

Ferret MkII Scout Car

This Ferret MkII Scout Car in a white UN paint scheme was on display at the Bovington Tank Museum.

This is a British post-WW2 4×4 armoured reconnaissance vehicle, crew of 2, powered by Rolls-Royce B60 6-cylinder petrol engine, armed with one machine gun.

The Ferret armoured car, also commonly called the Ferret scout car, is a British armoured fighting vehicle designed and built for reconnaissance purposes. The Ferret was produced between 1952 and 1971 by the UK company Daimler.

It was widely adopted by regiments in the British Army, as well as the RAF Regiment and Commonwealth countries.

There was a similarly painted Ferret MkII Scout Car on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Alvis Saladin

The FV601 Saladin is a six-wheeled armoured car developed by Crossley Motors and later manufactured by Alvis. Designed in 1954, it replaced the AEC Armoured Car in service with the British Army from 1958 onward. The vehicle weighed 11 tonnes, offered a top speed of 72 km/h, and had a crew of three.

Saladins were noted for their excellent performance in desert conditions, and found favour with a number of Middle Eastern armies accordingly. They were armed with a 76 mm low-pressure rifled (spin-stabilised) gun which fired the same ammunition as that mounted on the FV101 Scorpion.

Despite the vehicle’s age and dated design, it is still in use in a number of countries in secondary roles.

I wrote an article about a modern English Civil War set in the 1990s. You can easily imagine how these armoured cars would have been used for reconnaissance, keeping down unrest, and defending key installations against attack.

M48 Patton

This M48 Patton was on display at Bovington.

The M48 Patton is an American first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M26 Pershing, M4 Sherman, M46 and M47 Patton tanks, and was the main battle tank of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War.

The M48 Patton-series saw widespread service with the United States and NATO until it was superseded by the M60 tank.

Churchill Crocodile

The Tank Museum at Bovington’s British Churchill Crocodile Flame Thrower Tank is unusual from other Museums Churchill Crocodile tanks as it still has its fuel trailer.

The tank on display was the last Churchill Mark VII to be produced by Vauxhall, in October 1945. It was sent directly to the School of Tank Technology, which transferred it to the Tank Museum in 1949, with practically no mileage beyond its acceptance test. The Mark VII was the first of the factory-assembled marks with thicker armour in fulfilment of the “heavy Churchill” requirement of May 1943.

Three brigades of Churchills landed in Normandy in 1944, most with 75 mm guns, some with 6-pounders, a few with 95 mm howitzers.

15mm Flames of War Churchill Crocodile.

DD Sherman Tank

During World War II, the British developed a revolutionary amphibious tank nicknamed the “Donald Duck” tank. These DD, or duplex drive, tanks were most famously based on the M4 Sherman medium tank and played a crucial role in supporting the Allied landings at Normandy in June 1944.

The secret to the DD tank’s unique ability was a collapsible canvas flotation screen that encircled the tank. When deployed, this screen inflated with air, transforming the tank into a buoyant vessel capable of navigating the English Channel. Propelled by rear-mounted propellers, the DD tank could churn through the water, reaching speeds of up to 4 knots.

Once the tank reached the shoreline, the crew would deflate the flotation screen, transforming the lumbering watercraft back into a formidable weapon. The canvas shroud would then be discarded, revealing the Sherman’s full arsenal of firepower, ready to provide immediate support for the invading infantry.

These innovative DD tanks were a key element of the specialised vehicles, known collectively as “Hobart’s Funnies,” that were designed to overcome the formidable German defences on the Normandy beaches.

Finnish T-34/76 Tank

The T-34/76 wasn’t just a tank; it was a turning point in World War II. Introduced in 1940, this Soviet medium tank shocked the German invaders in 1941 with its superior design. The T-34/76 boasted a perfect balance of three crucial elements: firepower, armour protection, and mobility.

The T-34/76 packed a powerful punch with its 76.2 mm cannon. This weapon outclassed anything else on the battlefield at the time. German tanks simply weren’t equipped to handle the T-34/76’s offensive capabilities.

The T-34/76 wasn’t just about attacking; it was a defensive powerhouse. Its innovative design incorporated thick, sloped armour. This seemingly simple feature made a world of difference. Shells that struck the T-34/76 at straight angles tended to glance off harmlessly, thanks to the sloped design, leaving the crew safe inside. This feature, along with the tough armour itself, effectively countered most anti-tank weapons of the early war.

The impact of the T-34/76 went beyond its raw firepower and armour. It was also remarkably agile. The powerful V-2 diesel engine propelled the tank at a respectable speed, allowing it to manoeuvre quickly across battlefields. This mobility gave the T-34/76 a tactical advantage, enabling it to outflank and surprise enemy forces.

While the effectiveness of the T-34/76 was challenged by later German tank advancements, its initial impact was undeniable. German General von Kleist famously called it “the finest tank in the world” after encountering it in 1941. The T-34/76 became a symbol of Soviet resilience and innovation, playing a pivotal role in the Red Army’s eventual victory.

The Tank Museum’s T-34/76 is a remarkable example of this legendary tank. This specific vehicle is an early model, captured by Finnish forces during the Continuation War. It served the Finnish army for years, even being used as a training tank well into the 1950s. The Tank Museum’s T-34/76 stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of this revolutionary tank design.

Vickers Mk VIB Light Tank

The Vickers Mk VIB Light Tank was a British WW2 light tank, crew of 3, powered by Meadows 6-cylinder petrol engine, armed with two machine guns.

This is the one at the Tank Museum in Bovington.

The Mk VI Light Tank was the sixth in the line of light tanks built by Vickers-Armstrongs for the British Army during the interwar period. The company had achieved a degree of standardization with their previous five models, and the Mark VI was identical in all but a few respects. The turret, which had been expanded in the Mk V to allow a three-man crew to operate the tank, was further expanded to give room in its rear for a wireless set.

The British Army lost 331 Mark VI light tanks in the Battle of France of 1940.

The Mk VIB was mechanically identical to the Mk VIA but with a few minor differences to make production simpler, including a one-piece armoured louvre over the radiator instead of a two-piece louvre, and a plain circular cupola instead of the faceted type.

The Mk VIB was also used in the North African campaign against the Italians late in 1940 with the 7th Armoured Division.

In A Very British Civil War scenario, you would expect to be using a fair amount of these tanks. When the Battle of France began in May 1940, the majority of the tanks possessed by the British Expeditionary Force were Mark VI variants.

Here are some 15mm Flames of War Light Tank VIs in the Flames of War Miniatures Gallery.