August 28th- The Bovington Tank Museum and Farewell to England

Our last view of the, by now, familiar Windsor Castle.

It is our last day in Maidenhead before we head of for Nepal. The last few days have been shared between frantically packing and spending time with Holly's family. But before we get to that, we had one more sight to see.

On the 26th, we went to the Bovington Tank Museum. We had a great time and took plenty of pictures, so the best way to talk about it is to just post them here and go through our visit in the captions.

Little Willie, the first ever tank, an experimental British design
that preceded the Mk. I.

British WWI tank (cant recall exactly which Mk.). Example of
"female" design with two machine guns mounted in place
of a heavy cannon.

Mk. VIII "International" tank,
a collaborative design with efforts
from Britain, the US, and France.

German WWI anti tank rifle.

The infamous Tiger I, and apparently the only functional
one left in the world.

Elefant, a tank-destroyer design based on the Tiger I chassis.

Tiger II

Jagdtiger, a tank-destroyer based on the Tiger II chassis.

American M10 tank-destroyer.

The all-Canadian Ram tank, designed and built back home.
Though replaced by the Sherman in a combat role, it was
widely used for training purposes or retooled into different
roles.

Kangaroo, a troop carrier based on the Ram tank. An example
of the Ram tank being re-purposed for a different role.

German remote controlled mine "Goliath".

T-26 Soviet tank, captured and repainted by the Finnish army.

KV-1 Soviet heavy tank. Though overshadowed by the t-34
in popular history, the Germans where hard pressed to find
a counter to this armoured behemoth when first encountered.

Japdpanzer 38(t) "Hetzer" tank destroyer, based on design
of captured Czech tanks.

Jagdpanther tank-destroyer, based on the Panther Chassis.

Sherman tank with mine flail attached. The drum would spin,
whipping the ground beneath with the attached chains and clearing
it of any mines.

Bren gun carrier, a light troop transport used by British and
other commonwealth forces in a role similar to a Jeep.

Panzer IV, workhorse of the German Panzer armies.

Panzer III, the Panzer IV's lighter predecessor. Seen here with
a short barrelled 75mm canon better suited for infantry support,
as the tank was used in its later years, as well as Jerrycans mounted
on the turret. This was typical of long-distance drives, but they
would be removed for battle.

Stug III. Short for Sturmgeschutz, which translates as
"assault gun."

Stuart light tank.

Archer tank-destroyer, the first self-propelled carriage for the
17 pounder anti-tank gun the British where able to use. Due
to design limitations, the cannon points to the rear of the tank.
Painted here with the colours of the 1st Canadian Armoured
Brigade (thought the colour scheme of the brigade insignia
 appears to be inverted. possible oversight?)
 as it would have been during the Invasion of Italy.

Australian designed sentinel tank. Designed as a local solution
to the fear that shipping to the UK and USA would be cut-off,
it was replaced by American and British designs and never saw
combat.

Japanese tank type 95. Japanese tank design was generally
regarded as poorer than that of any other belligerent nation,
and surviving examples are rare.

The allied armoured workhorse: M4A1 Sherman.

British "Comet" tank, the first turreted tank designed to mount
the 17 pounder anti-tank canon.

Renault Ft-17, a french tank of WWI design.

French heavy tank B1. Regarded by some as the finest
tank in the world at the outbreak of war in 1939, its downfall
was not in its design, but in its tactical application.

M3 Lee/Grant. American design used as a stopgap while development
of a tank capable of mounting a 75mm gun in its turret (the Sherman).
In the meantime, the gun was installed in the hull of the tank.

Churchill Crocodile flame thrower tank.

Panther I, the tank that was meant to replace the Panzer IV.
Though more heavily armoured and armed, it was mechanically
fragile and never produced in numbers significant enough to fully
replace the Panzer IV.

T-34-85, the most prolific soviet tank design. Here armed with
an 85mm gun (thus the -85 designation)

Cromwell, British cruiser (medium) tank. Though lightly armed,
it was quick and agile, and therefore often used for recon.

Matt's personal favourite, the Sherman Firefly! Though the Comet
was the first tank intended to mount the 17 pounder, it could be
shoe-horned sideways into a specially modified turret on a Sherman.
As the comet would never be produced enough to fully equip allied units,
the firefly would be the principal allied tank-killer from 1944 onward.

Gone but never forgotten.

We also popped down to Windsor one last time just in time to see the changing of the guard. We were lucky enough to see them accompanied by the Band of the Household Calvary.

And apart from that, we have spent time visiting with Holly's relatives here in Maidenhead. We are so thankful for all the help they have given us, and for their hospitality. Matt has rarely eaten so well in his life, and has made himself a reputation as a bottomless pit. It was sad to say goodbye, and we can't wait to visit again!

(Back) Matt and Opa
(Middle) Holly, Oma and Heike
(Front) Beatrice and Mark

We had really meant to publish this earlier, but we had trouble with Wi-fi at Heathrow. As you read this, we are in Kathmandu. Our voyage here is a story of it's own, and we will try and make a blog post for that as soon as we can. Meanwhile, we are making the arrangements for our trek, and hope to leave early next week!