That's one ticked off the bucket list!

I don't have a bucket list as such, BUT, one place I've always wanted to visit was the tank museum at Bovington as one of my Granddads was a Tankie & served with Monty in the desert & Italy, he died when I was but young & never spoke about what he went through.

So the chance to visit arose last weekend, and boy I'm glad I went - an absolutely fascinating place!

Obligatory photo's below........ But if they help those who have yet to visit..........

Oh, and I've stuck this in the heritage bit, as I have no intention of doing anything crazy & have no desire to go jetting off, as there's plenty of heritage stuff to see in this country.

So what's next on the bucket list?........ I don't know - yet!

 

Its been well out of the way for me too, but the chance came up!

Only thing I didn't get to see was the live tank displays as they only do them M-F as the squaddies have weekends off!

If you're thinking of doing it, once you've done there you can drop down to Norden for the Swanage - 2 birds, one stone........... I can hear a holiday being booked.............

 

That Königstiger is rather tasty.

 

My father qualified to drive Churchills - basically on & off his Tank Transporter.

In my late 20's (Ie about 1989) I wondered about buying a DUKW & asked if he would teach me to drive it as he had driven them. He suggested that this was very unlikely, in terms he appeared to have learnt in the army rather than The Midland Bank. This leads me to think that they are not easy to drive.

 

Any particular use in mind on here?

 

I would not have liked to look down the gun barrel for real from the wrong end!

 

Too right. Outgunned anything the Allies had. Good job that a) it was a tad unreliable and not that fast and b) never tilt in anywhere near enough quantity to have a real impact on things.

 

I know..................... blame A Dolf for the deficiencies..............

But one thing that struck me was, you stick a German tank against anything else and compare the two, they're like chalk & cheese/ little V large - the German offing looks so brutal compared to the 'puny' offings we had & you think, how can we get passed that.......... but history tells the story that they were more than fallible.

 

Great military vehicle display at Duxford, as well as the flying stuff.

 

In theory yes but that variant had its problems that degraded its effectiveness.

 

According to what I've read - Lower rate of fire than a standard Sherman. Kicked up a lot of dust that revealed its position so the tank would have to move after every few shots. Same dust making it difficult for the gunner to see fall of shot. Lack of a decent HE round for the 17 pounder made it less effective against other targets.

Edit : I should have added that in spite of the above, the 17 pounder could penetrate thicker armour than the legendary 88 and that was something I didn't know.

 

I did it the other way round, over 2 excellent days and also missed the display...

 

I agree. Anything that could stop a Tiger would be forgiven its foibles and it was only ever intended as a stop gap anyway.

 

The Musee des Blindes at Saumur is also worth a visit and the products of the local vineyards are worth taking an interest in too (don't take a small car).

You could go so far as to say that any weapon is only a stop gap, one moment you are ahead and the next you are playing catch up. The reputation of the 88 owes much to "fanboyism" - those who talk about it usually have little idea of the capabilities of the 17 pounder or the QF 3.7" AA gun.

Anyway, congratulations on ticking one off your list. What's next?

 

I doubt the troops and tank guys who had to face the 88 could be accused of "fanboyism" though. Took a heavy toll in North Africa that's for sure.