Events Tankfest, Bovington, UK words Andrew Stone pictures Andrew Stone & James Stone
that one had run at Tankfest. Around 2,300 were
manufactured by the Japanese for World War
Two, but fewer than 25 now survive with only
two in running order. The Ha-Go on display was
found on an island in the South Pacific and had
previously been on show in Osaka, Japan until
it was brought to England by Oliver Barnham
in 2005. Oliver has spent more than 10 years
restoring the tank to running condition and al-
most all the original features have been retained,
including the engine.
The above-mentioned vehicles were joined
by The Tank Museum’s own running armour
and other guest vehicles including two T-34
tanks used by Russia during World War Two.
The T-34 was the most produced tank of the
war, with more than 80,000 built. The two at
Tankfest were the T-34/85 variants and both
were produced during the war. One came from
the Cobbaton Collection in Devon, which houses
a collection of World War Two vehicles and arte-
facts open to the public. The other, which came
off the production line in 1944, is thought to have
been damaged during the Battle for Prague and
then went on to fight at the Battle for Berlin, was
loaned by private collector, John Sanderson.
As usual, a variety of interesting talks took
place with guest speakers such as Holly-
wood stuntman Jim Dowdall and The Tank
Museum’s very own tank historian and CMV
contributor David Fletcher speaking. Other
guest speakers included Lt Col Jim Howard,
Wargaming’s Richard Cutland and Military
Archaeologist Richard Osgood.
The Saturday afternoon displays were opened
by the Army Parachute Display Team, the
Lightning Bolts. The team ‘dropped in’ from an
altitude of 8,000ft, with each member exiting the
aircraft followed by a smoke trail.
Continuing with the theme of firsts, this was
also my first visit to Tankfest. While I was only
able to spend part of Friday and Saturday at the
event, I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportuni-
ty to view all the armour on show.
Friday was the less crowded of the two days
and allowed more freedom when moving about
the site and around the museum itself. Visitors
to the Tank Park were also able to get up-close
with the vehicles, while the list of positives for
attending on the first day didn’t stop there as the
traders were less busy, allowing for more
browsing time and less queuing time. The fact
that Friday tickets are also cheaper than
Saturday and Sunday, makes it a viable
alternative for those planning a trip next year.Sofilein in front of the camera
talking about the Sherman FireflyA Universal Carrier that formed part of the D-Day convoy The Boxer, a multi-role armoured fighting vehicle
Panzer IIIThe Weald Foundation’s World War Two Jagdpanther A Hetzer in the arena
To mark the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, a convoy of
World War Two vehicles made its way around
the arena