Aberdeen? Bovington? Elephant?

CrazyD · #1 (**permalink**) July 15th, 2002, 03:57 PM

Alright, so as I mentioned in the Dora post, I went to Aberdeen a couple years back. Boy, was I excited- I had read that one of the few (only?) remaining specimens of the Elephant (german TD) was parked there.
Shock! Horror! (exaggeration!) When I got there, the Elephant was nowhere to be seen...
And the curator was gone for the afternoon, only some non-knowledgeable people remained from the staff...

I heard this Elephant was moved to the Tank Museum at Bovington for restoration. Any info?

Martin Bull · #2 (**permalink**) July 15th, 2002, 04:21 PM

Hi, Crazy -

Take a look at
www.tankshack.com

They've got some rather sad pictures taken in 2001 of the rusting Elefant at Aberdeen. I haven't seen anything about the vehicle going to Bovington. The Bovington website is rather vague about actual exhibits - I hope to go down there soon.

Bish OBE · #3 (**permalink**) July 15th, 2002, 04:40 PM

I was at Bovvy back in March.There was no sign of an Elefant. I think they have their hands full with the Tier I at the mo.
Are those wagons at Aberdeen stilloutside or have they got round to giving them some cover.

CrazyD · #4 (**permalink**) July 15th, 2002, 05:19 PM

Thanks for the info!
Hmmm... now I'm trying to figure out exactly when I went... Those pictures are dated July 2001- I think that was AFTER I went. Which means I just missed the Elephant somehow! Damn! Figures tho- I only had about 2 hours there, so I only had time to do the main park. Sounds like the Elephant was moved. I'll look into that...
Oh well, I'll just have to return! I do have some pretty good photos from my trip- should I try and scan them? ANyone want any?
And Bish, yes, it's pretty bad- all the vehicles and guns and big stuff are just sitting outside in a "park". The small arms are indoor, but the outdoor stuff continues to suffer from the weather...

C.Evans · #5 (**permalink**) July 15th, 2002, 08:01 PM

The only "Tiger tank" I know of thats at bovington, is the one used in SPR--the russian "Tiger" tank. A friend of mine went there and took a few pics for me a few yrs ago.

Martin Bull · #6 (**permalink**) July 15th, 2002, 08:14 PM

No, it's a long time since I was at Bovington but I do remember that they have a Tiger 1, Tiger 2 and Jagdtiger which at that time were all in a row !

The Tiger 1 has it's own website accessed via the Tank Museum website.

I can see I'm going to have to pay another visit soon !!

Greenjacket · #7 (**permalink**) July 15th, 2002, 11:14 PM

I was at the Bovington Tank Museum Open Day a few weeks ago. The show was fantastic. I saw (amongst others) a Sherman, a T-34/85, Pz III, Challenger II, M-16 w/4x 0.5's, M113, Warrior, Jagdpanther, Cheftain, Centurion, Comet, Matilda I and II, Churchill, Valentine, Crusader, T-55, T-72, and others.

C.Evans · #8 (**permalink**) July 16th, 2002, 03:55 AM

I dont know--all I know is what my friend from Porstmouth told me on what he saw at the museum.

I climbed allover a PzIII when I was in Solothurn Switzerland.

Bish OBE · #9 (**permalink**) July 17th, 2002, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by C.Evans:
The only "Tiger tank" I know of thats at bovington, is the one used in SPR--the russian "Tiger" tank. A friend of mine went there and took a few pics for me a few yrs ago.

It may have been that the SPR Tiger was there on a visit.The Tiger I, the real one that is, has undergone alot of work and spent some time out of view. They took the engine from the Tiger II and put it in the Tiger I to get it running. It is an early Tiger captuerd in Tunisia in 43.