The British tank museum helping Ukraine’s cause
Visit the award-winning Tank Museum in the garrison village of Bovington, Dorset, on any given weekend, and you will find scores of families admiring its historical fleets.
Top attractions include Little Willie, the world’s first ever working tank from 1915 (its name is believed to be an irreverent sobriquet for the German Crown Prince, Kaiser Wilhelm), Germany’s Tiger tank, known for its impenetrable armour and powerful gun, plus the A22 Churchill, much used in World War II and admired for its heavy armour and ability to climb steep slopes.
Yet perhaps less well-known is the role this rural attraction is playing in the modern-day fight against Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Late last year, it dug out longforgotten manuals, diagrams and documents from its extensive archive on how to repair damaged Soviet-era tanks currently used in Ukraine.
It has since passed this information to a leading British defence company, enabling it to make repairs on the tanks’ tracks — or solid chain caterpillar treads — that are needed in trench warfare. These new tracks are now out in Ukraine, helping the army keep the Russians at bay in what is now a long, brutal war of attrition.
“When we were asked to help we immediately went and looked for anything that might be of assistance,” says museum curator David Willey.
“UK defence companies are very keen to assist but in some cases the people from the Cold War era are no longer around and knowledge has been lost.
“We also found examples of the actual items required such as T-72 tracks and pins from one of the vehicles in the collection. The new parts could then be made accurately.”
It is not the first time the museum has used its expertise and historical stock to help out in more modern warfare. In 2011, the RAF and French air force jets led a bombing campaign in Libya, which ended the rule of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The Libyan army mainly used T-54 and T-72 tanks, which the Tank Museum had among its exhibits. It enabled pilots to fly over them, to get used to them by sight.