On Wednesday, 7^th October, approx. 30 Members and Friends of the Association, gathered at Bovington for the visit to the Tank Museum (www.tankmuseum.org) which had been organised by Barrie Mitchell.

The actual Museum is much larger than many of us realised and £16m from the Lottery Fund has enabled them to create a magnificent new display hall with 300 vehicles spanning 100 years. Bovington is the largest and best tank museum in the world and gives a fantastic insight into all aspects of the tank - especially how they were tactically used by their army commanders and operated by the crews.

Our guide, Chris Copson was marvellous and spoke with great knowledge and enthusiasm about the vehicles from their invention in World War I, right through to the present day. The tanks and armoured cars on display have seen action in all major wars of the 20^thcentury,and on into the 21^st with Desert Storm etc.

The tour starts with 'The Story of the Tank' from its invention in 1915 with its use in combating the machine gun and overcoming the stalemate of trench warfare, through to the streets of Basra in Iraq. This British invention has helped to shape world history. Part of the initial display includes a mock-up of World War I trenches showing the utter desolation and futility of this type of warfare; the mud, barbed wire, physical and mental pain and astonishing casualties.

The next part of the exhibition has 150 vehicles on show representing 26 countries and again, 100 years of history. We stopped at almost every vehicle to discuss its design and use, together with stories from the soldiers who fought in them and against them.

World War 2 tanks such as the German Panzers and Tigers, Russian T34s and British/American Shermans, gave rise to much discussion about actual tank-against-tank battles such as El Alamein. Many of us found this to be the most interesting part of our tour, thanks again to Chris Copson's knowledge and humorous delivery.

After Enfield, those of us who stayed with military vehicles and their armament, found Chris more than ready to exchange views on many of the exhibits and we were pleasantly surprised to find several "one-off" vehicles in the Museum which had been built as experimental/prototype models.

Finally, there was opportunity to wander around freely, including climbing into a Mk 13 Chieftain. During my time in the MoD, I did a lot of work on this tank and was surprised to find that they got to Mk 13 because the multi-fuel requirement meant that this tank - except for the gun - was never going to be much of a success! Challenger came along at just the right time. Our guide, Chris, was on hand for the rest of the afternoon sitting inside Mk 4 tank from World War I, happily explaining how difficult it was to drive and operate and how vulnerable the crews were to the ingenuity of the enemy, once they had overcome their terror of their first encounter on the battlefield.

A wonderful day out and for those reading this who are not part of our Association, please do visit the Museum which has a very nice restaurant and marvel at the ingenuity and bravery of man when it comes to fighting for our freedom. Many thanks to those involved with the organisation of the visit.

Chris Brooks RSAF Enfield 1957-1962