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- TrevorLarkum

- TrevorLarkum

Having got frustrated with searching the Bovington online vehicle records I spent some time working out a better, repeatable way of accessing them - and not just current ones, but past ones too.

I spoke too soon - Bovington has just changed the database so all the record numbers have changed (mostly decreasing their index by 4) for no apparent reason. I have updated most of the links by hand - about 200 - and will do the remaining ones soon. If they change the system again I will look into creating some web code designed to cope better with their apparently random changes.

Unfortunately Bovington did change its database numbering again. Therefore I went ahead and created a system to allow for future changes. All Bovington links now go through a page on my website so I can adjust the links as necessary. I have gone through and updated all the links again by hand - about 280. From now on I will be able to correct them all in one go when Bovington changes the numbering again by changing the code on PreservedTanks.com. Anyway, it's now done, so if you're interested in seeing the Bovington online record for every tank that is, or has ever been, at Bovington you can now do it through PTC. You just need to find the tank, click through to its profile page, and then click on the link marked Museum Vehicle Record.

Preserved Tanks at Bovington

I've just finished adding Massimo's pictures to the website from his trip to Bovington, just over 400 altogether. Using the contributor feature, which selects just the photos from a particular contributor, you pretty well get to see exactly what Massimo saw during his visit:

Massimo Foti at Bovington

This is my favourite picture - not just because it's a good photo, but because it's of a Challenger with a registration close to the one I served on (it might even be from my old regiment):

[img]http://preservedtanks.com/Albums/British/3620-FV4030%234%20Challenger%201/5853749140-2ce7281f58_Chall_Bovington_MFoti_c.jpg[/img]

That link doesn't seem to work here - either paste it into a browser, or see it on the website:

preservedtanks.com/Ima...amp;Page=0

Always thought that you were a Chieftain commander

Regards,
Lesley

I trained on Chieftain but served on Challenger 1 (except in BATUS which still had Chieftains).

From the Preserved Tanks in the Netherlands thread:

- Michel_Krauss

Trevor,

found the T34/85 of the Marshall museum Zwijndrecht 8O

I knew I had seen it some place before, it's at the MILWEB for sale

www.milweb.net/webverts/56114/

Michel

Thanks Michel for tracking it down - it has prompted me to write up the 'Hanson Collection'. I've not found out a great deal, but it's given me the basics of a new entry.

Location ID 3685: Hanson Collection, Preston

I'm currently working on tying up loose ends. One of these is the Isle of Wight museum, partly because I've been sitting on the photos for a while and partly because many of the tanks I researched for the Bovington write-up are actually now at IoW. So here it is, with some 320 photos:

Location ID 3100: Isle of Wight Military History Museum




If anyone can confirm or add anything to the histories of these vehicles it would be much appreciated, particularly where I've had to make an educated guess as to whether a particular vehicle missing from Bovington is now a vehicle at IoW.


Lesley: I've covered the glacis markings of the T-55 in detail, you may find that interesting (I've more photos if they're useful). I imagine from the markings that it's Czech manufacture, but if you can give model details that would be appreciated.


P.-O.: Note that the Churchills in your Surviving Churchills register at the top of pages 4 and 6 are the same tank:

Unique ID 1378: Isle of Wight Churchill Mk VI

It was hard work untangling the various other Churchills there, I make it altogether 7 now.

I've bought yesterday a grouping of old issues of Saumur Tank Museum magazines. On an exemplar of March 1988, I've read that Bovington got in 1987 or 1988 a Panhard EBR-90, an AMX-13 VTT/VCI and an M24 Chaffee from Saumur. In exchange, Saumur got a M5A1 Stuart, a Saladin and a Saracen from Bovington.

P-O

T34/85, Fromes Hill, A4103, Herefordshire.
Outside the Army Surplus store.

From the 'plans and trips' thread:

- TrevorLarkum

Not a future plan, but I'll just mention I had a (25 year) reunion at Sandhurst in January so I took the opportunity to photograph the Centurion there, and then the tanks at the nearby Aldershot museum. I'll post the pics when I get the chance.

- here's a start. First of all, the Scorpion:

Unique ID 2187: Aldershot Scorpion





It's a well travelled vehicle! To fill in its background locations and maps correctly I have created an initial entry for Alvis:

Location ID 3490: Alvis

and a placeholder for ABRO:

Location ID 3460: ABRO Donnington

Hi Trevor i have some photos of the aldershot scorpion undergoing restoration if you want them

Keith

- keef

Hi Trevor i have some photos of the aldershot scorpion undergoing restoration if you want them

Keith

Keith - yes please!

Meanwhile I've been working on the Chieftain there:

Unique ID 1630: Aldershot Chieftain

[Post split, otherwise the text was getting mangled with the link URLs - very odd]

Like the Scorpion, it is well travelled. It is encouraging when collections care about their vehicles' previous history. Like with the Scorpion, I've researched where its previous units were located and put them on the map (including adding a placeholder for BATUS).

A couple of interesting things. Firstly, it was with 3RTR, my unit, at Paderborn in 1979. I visited there in about 1985 and went on exercise on Chieftains, though it appears this example had already moved on by then.

Secondly, it was with QRIH at Münster in 1983. It's registration is 00EB59 and while researching today I came across a picture of another Chieftain there with an almost identical registraiton: 00EB57. They must have been 'stablemates'! Who knows, maybe it's one of the vehicles in the background.



bfg-locations.editboar...ks-munster

An obvious visual difference, of course, is that the Aldershot vehicle has since been 'Stillbrewed'.

Now the Sexton:

Unique ID 1865: Aldershot Sexton (previously Larkhill)



- this vehicle is not as well travelled as the others, but still got about a bit.

A new addition, a Challenger 1 - unfortunately I don't have enough definitive information about its travels to fully populate the map:

Unique ID 2437: Aldershot Challenger

The last tank at Aldershot - a Scimitar, again without much background history:

Unique ID 2438: Aldershot Scimitar



Is is significant, though, as it's the first Scimitar to go in the database:

Preserved British Tanks