bovington tank museum – Page 7 – Felix's Gaming Pages

Mark II Female F53 285 The Flying Scotsman

Mark II Female F53 285 The Flying Scotsman was on display at Bovington. It took part in the Battle of Arras in April 1917.

Originally intended for training in the UK, this Mark II wasn’t built for battle. Made from boilerplate steel, it lacked the hardened armor to resist machine gun fire. Despite this, it found itself thrust into combat at Arras in 1917. One of 25 Male Mark IIs built by William Foster, it’s the world’s oldest surviving tank to see battlefield action.

Christened “Dahlia” (D5), it belonged to 3 section, 10 Company, D Battalion. A shortage of Mark I tanks forced the use of 45 training Mark IIs, including Dahlia, during the Battle of Arras in April 1917.

D5’s story continues. With the arrival of the more advanced Mark IV tanks, many Mark IIs faced decommission. D5, however, dodged the scrap heap and received a new lease on life. Its guns were removed, replaced by a larger roof hatch, transforming it into a vital supply carrier christened “The Flying Scotsman” with the designation F53. Some believe it even saw action at the Battle of Cambrai later in 1917.

Through an extraordinary twist of fate, D5 escaped the fate of most wartime vehicles. It returned to England and eventually found a permanent home at The Tank Museum in Bovington in 1949. Initially mistaken for a Mark I due to its modifications, D5’s true identity was revealed when a real Mark I joined the museum’s collection in 1970. After years displayed outdoors, the museum’s expansion finally offered D5 a well-deserved place in the new tank hall, safe from the harsh British weather.

Today, D5 stands as a testament to wartime improvisation and the sheer resilience of these early armored vehicles. It’s a reminder that even training tanks can play a crucial role, and that sometimes, history takes unexpected turns, preserving a piece of the past for future generations.

Little Willie

Little Willie is the oldest surviving individual tank, and is preserved as one of the most famous pieces in the collection of The Tank Museum, Bovington, England.

Little Willie was a prototype in the development of the British Mark I tank. Constructed in the autumn of 1915 at the behest of the Landship Committee, it was the first completed tank prototype in history.

Centurion Mark 3

This Centurion Mark 3 was on display at the Tank Museum at Bovington. It is missing its side-skirts.

It has been painted as a tank that fought in the Korean War. The Centurion depicted, participated in a fiercely contested action defending a location called ‘The Hook’ against Chinese forces in Korea in May 1953.

The Centurion tank was one of the most successful post-war tank designs. It was introduced in 1945, just too late to see combat in the Second World War. However, it went on to serve in a number of conflicts, including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Arab-Israeli wars.

The Centurion was a well-balanced tank with a good mix of armament, armour, and mobility. It was armed with a 105mm rifled gun, which was capable of firing both high-explosive and armour-piercing rounds. The Centurion’s armour was also very effective, and it was able to withstand the fire of most enemy tanks. The tank was also highly mobile, and it was able to keep up with the latest advances in tank warfare.

This Centurion Mark 3 was in fact the prototype Centurion Crocodile flame throwing tank; a type that never entered production.

Sherman Firefly

This Sherman Firefly was on display at the Bovington Tank Museum.

The Sherman Firefly was a World War II British variant of the American Sherman tank, fitted with the powerful British 17 pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon.

Originally conceived as a stopgap until future British tank designs came into service, the Sherman Firefly became the most common vehicle with the 17 pounder in World War II.

Though the British expected to have their own new tank models developed soon (and were loath to consider using American tanks), British Major George Brighty championed the already-rejected idea of mounting the 17 pounder in the existing Sherman.

With the help of Lieutenant Colonel Witheridge and despite official disapproval, he managed to get the concept accepted. This proved fortuitous, as both the Challenger and Cromwell tank designs experienced difficulties and delays.

After the problem of getting the gun to fit in the Sherman’s turret was solved, the Firefly was put into production in early 1944, in time to equip Field Marshal Montgomery’s forces for the Normandy landings.

It soon became highly valued as the only British tank capable of defeating the Panther and Tiger tanks it faced in Normandy at standard combat ranges. In recognition of this, German tank and anti-tank gun crews were instructed to attack Fireflies first.

See the workbench feature on my Flames of War Sherman Firefly VC.

Challenger 1 Main Battle Tank

The FV4030/4 Challenger 1 is a British main battle tank used by the British Army from 1983 to 2001, when it was superseded by the Challenger 2.

The Challenger design by the former Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment near Chobham in Surrey originated in an Iranian order for an improved version of the Chieftain line of tanks in service around the world. These were the Chieftain Mk5, Shir 1 and Shir 2. With the fall of the Shah of Iran and the collapse of the UK MBT-80 project, the British Army became the customer and the tank was further developed by MVEE to meet Western European requirements.

Chobham armour is the informal name of a composite armour developed in the 1960s at the Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment, a British tank research centre

The Challenger 1 tank saw service in the First Gulf War in 1991.

Heavy Gun Tank Conqueror Mark I

This Heavy Gun Tank Conqueror Mark I was on display at The Tank Museum.

The FV 214 Conqueror, also known as Tank, Heavy No. 1, 120 mm Gun, Conqueror was a British heavy tank of the post-World War II era. It was developed as a response to the Soviet IS-3 heavy tank.

The Conqueror’s main armament, an 120 mm gun, which was larger than the 20-pounder gun carried by its peer, the Centurion.

The Conqueror’s role was to provide long range anti-tank support for the Centurion. Nine Conquerors were issued for each regiment in Germany, usually grouped in three tank troops.

Overall 185 Heavy Gun Tank Conquerors were built. The first was produced in 1955.

They were in service until 1966, both the Conqueror and the Centurion were replaced by the Chieftain.

There was a Heavy Gun Tank Conqueror Mark I at the Land Warfare Exhibit at the Imperial War Museum Duxford. I managed to photograph it back when I visited in 2019.

It was in a wider shot of the Land Warfare Exhibit that included an FV433 Abbot SPG, which I have cropped for this post.

TOG II*

Weighing 80 tons the TOG II* is the heaviest tank at the Tank Museum. It was designed on the premise that World War II would evolve in the same way as the First World War.

The Heavy Tank, TOG II, was a prototype British super-heavy tank design produced in the early part of the Second World War in case the battlefields of northern France turned into a morass of mud, trenches and craters as had happened during the First World War.

The tank was fitted with four different gun turrets between 1941 and 1944, ending up with the type of turret designed by Stoddart and Pitt for the A30 Challenger Heavy Cruiser Tank. This mounted a 17pdr gun, making the tank a TOG II*.

In the end it never went into production, but as part of the Flames of War Mid-War Monsters range you could buy it and use it in alternate history games. I bought a boxed set of three.

See the workbench feature on these huge tanks.

Chieftain Main Battle Tank Mark 12

The FV4201 Chieftain was the main battle tank of the United Kingdom during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

This Chieftain was on display 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.

Chieftain Main Battle Tank at Imperial War Museum Duxford.

Jordanian Khalid Chieftain

This Jordanian Khalid Chieftain was at Bovington.

The FV4201 Chieftain was the main battle tank of the United Kingdom during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

A version was developed in the 1970s for export to Iran, known as the Shir 1.The Shir 1 incorporated the Chieftain hull front and turret casting. The rear of the hull was reconfigured to accept a new power pack. However after the 1979 Iranian Revolution the order was cancelled.

The Khalid Chieftain is based on the Shir 1 design with the addition of the Integrated Fire Control System (IFCS).

These were sold to Jordan.

Tortoise Heavy Assault Tank

The Tortoise Heavy Assault Tank was a British heavy assault gun design developed during the Second World War, but never put into mass production. It was developed for the task of clearing heavily fortified areas such as the Siegfried Line and as a result favoured armour protection over mobility.

Six prototypes were constructed, but it never went into production. Five prototypes were scrapped and one was preserved, and can now be found at The Tank Museum.

Although heavy, at 78 tons, and not readily transported, it was considered reliable and a good gun platform.

Battlefront are going to produce a 15mm version for their Late War Leviathans game.