Curator Q&A #16: WW2 Tank Markings | The Tank Museum 

Ripper. Greetings from Australia. Love these films. And Finn rocks.

Finn and the jigsaw puzzle! The way he put his head on his paws as if to say "Blimey, that took some doing", was brilliant!

It was our pleasure! Her name is Georgia. We had a fantastic day, really loved getting back down there. Really good friendly staff also.

That story about the friendly fire incident was fascinating, Rather shocking if you think about it.

Russian Mafia: Wanna buy tank? Few tanks? Tank Museum: Tanks? What tanks? Russian Mafia: Good tank. T-90MS, T-80BWM, maybe a T-90M Proryv-3 - this very good tank. Tank Museum: Well, no... thanks, Thank you. Russian Mafia: No? Cheap maybe T-72B4. Good price. Less than $1mln, You sure? Tank Museum: No, thank you. We are not interested. Russian Mafia: Okay, call me if you change your mind. Have a nice day.

These shows must continue after lockdown finishes...I'm hooked!

Visited the museum yesterday. Very well organised, one-way system doesn't spoil the experience, can still see all the vehicles. The new WW2 display is excellent.

I recently received my order from the shop. Outstanding products,customer service, and shipping! All the way from the UK, to Coventry Rhode Island,USA. Thank you very much. Keep up the great work!

Right on mate Great to see these videos !! Love tanks especially WWII Sherman's, German Tigers , Russian Armor . Someday I hope to take my kids , I am a single dad, disabled veteran . US Army , for a visit to your museum. I hope....given the crazy world we live in. But anyway enjoy your vids Cheers And greetings from KY , USA 😁😁

I love the way you've got the ball throwing while continuing to talk down pat. Practice, practice, practice!

I THINK I LOVE THIS MAN

"Perhaps make a donation or join one of our schemes." Okay, David, that did it, you've guiilted me out, I got eff all at the moment but I'll scrape up some little bit of coin from somewhere and route it to the Tank Museum, just in thanks for how much I respect the expertise of everybody involved at Bovington, and how much I enjoy viewing the results. Thank you!

Has the museum shop considered partnering with some one in the USA. This would avoid over seas shipping and customs issues.

Can confirm the half-speed comment

I love my inflatable 88 shell, people are always so confused why I have it but it makes for an excellent conversation!

In the UK we are obsessed with German tank such as the Tiger or Panther. Were there any British tanks that the Germans were impressed with? Thank you for doing the Q&A sessions I think they are great during these difficult times. BTW my partner loves Finn and now she is watching these videos with me.

17pdr vs Modern Armour? Well...take this how you will, but one of my partners in figure gaming grew up as an Army Brat here in Australia and tells the tale of the early days of the Leopard in Australian service. The story goes that one of the first Leopards was delivered to Pucka and was driven around the range. Then it broke down and the crew, not being able to fix the problem straight away, left the tank where it was and went back to barracks in a support vehicle, safe in the knowledge that RAEME would recover the vehicle the next day. Then, again according to the tale, the local Reserves Anti-Tank unit was having their live fire day with their 17pdr and was allowed to basically go onto the range and shoot up the target. So they went on the range and promptly shot off their allocated collection of AP at the very realistic tank target they found down range. They then packed up and as they left the range spoke glowingly of the target quality. About then the range officer put two and two together and in panic realised what had happened. Fortunately because the tank was so 'modern' it wasn't badly damaged. Apparently. Personally I usually take a lot of salt whenever my friend tells this story but make of it what you will. :D Personally big grains of salt as I have never heard this story from anyone else.

Great content as ever David. I hope these Q&A videos continue once we return to "normal" even if they're less frequent.

thank you for these great q and a, finn and informative. hope all of you are safe, thanks again

Dr. Willy, I received my ill-gotten booty from the gift shop today. You did not say my Finn puppet would come with a dog tag. His autograph (and yours) are the best parts of the purchase. The books and all are also quite nice. Thank you and the museum gift shop so much. And thank you for all the cozy tank chats. Here's to clean living and pure thoughts. Cheers! Kurt Bullington

I just got Crisp's Brazen Chariots last weekend and am thoroughly enjoying it. Your book recommendations are excellent and I've enjoyed reading several of the books you've mentioned over these past excellent Q&A sessions. Keep up the great work and keep having Finn as part of these chats...

@12.10 David Fletcher is back.....Best news all year.

12:00 I've never thought of that! It's fantastic! Lol

Dear Mr Willey and Finn Thanks so much from Eleanor and Harry for answering there question about the KV, Eleanor’s really happy it’s still there!. And who cares about an extra letter, Still looks cool! Sorry we didn’t get back sooner just all sat down to watch the last two episodes.

My 75mm inflatable shell arrived today and will make a beautiful addition to my mancave. In order to justify the shipping costs I also got the book ''By tank, from D to VE day'' by Ken Tout and I look forward to reading it. I also have a question: The Germans captured quite a number of allied tanks and put them into service. How did they keep them supplied with ammunition and spare parts? I reckon if a Sherman is captured there will be some ammunition left in its racks, but at some point you'll have to resupply a tank with ammunition. And when a tank breaks down you need spare parts to fix it. How did the Germans deal with these problems?

I’ve been reading a book on Dunkirk and it surprised me how often British tank crews drove up to German tanks not recognizing them as such, and the Germans seemed oblivious as well.

Border Collies for the win, Alex.

Thans 4 the Finn merchandise! Got the delivery verry quickly. The socks are comfie and i love the signature!

A Danish enthusiast has bought some surplus tanks and tracked Equipment from the former Eastern stores and has made a private "Panzer Museum" near the town Slagelse on Sealand, including a T34 and the largest radar, tracked vehicle, ever made. He has his own area to use them in also, for a pay of course.

Thanks very much for answering my question. I've got a better understanding of how the museum works, and is organised now. Much appreciated :).

RE Blue on Blue - In a book on the Canadian 29th Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (South Albertas) - When they were in France post D-Day they called in Air support and popped coloured smoke to indicate their position, Yellow smoke, which was the colour for the Day or Week. When the planes came in they attacked the South Albertas, not the target. They threw out more smoke, and the planes kept coming in. I don't think anyone was killed but a couple of tanks were damaged. Eventually they ran out of fuel or ammunition and left. Later the South Albertas, a bit pissed at the Air support, found out that the RAF had been briefed that yellow was a target indicator.

Smart thinking on the audio guides. Plus it gives all of us armchair experts a chance to talk everyone's ears off

Off to see your tiger 2 prototype at Soesterberg NL soon. So glad everything is starting to open up again. I miss my Tanks.

I really enjoy this format. Very much an informal chat with someone who shares similar interests. Of course, the Pupper does add a dimension that is almost family - like. Sitting here lusting for that Tiger I. Where to put it? Or should I really go off the deep end and build a large Victory or another large Constitution? All that rigging will certainly fill many an evening...

Thanks for answering my question. I thoroughly enjoy these Q and A's

The modern wheeled recovery vehicle of the bundeswehr is also called Bison

The friendly fire incidents really were eye opening there 😳 well done guys.

I’m going to the museum in a few days I have been looking forward to it for a while

I think that the NATO aircraft reporting names may have came from the plethora of nicknames given to enemy aircraft in WWII. It's not unlikely that this caused confusion especially with the difficulty of identifying aircraft in the first place. Also like how the NATO system refers to fighters with F names, bombers with B etc. The Soviet tanks were only of the T series, which meant anything T-xx would always be an MBT whilst anything else would be a different threat.

Great job David as usual but (for me) the blue on blue stuff was pure gold.

its like grandad telling his children stories tell me more...

Visited Arsenalen the other day. A lot of cars outside and a lot of people (meaning a lot more than I expected these days, but probably like a normal summer day). Thing is, that there were never any crowding. People kept distance very well. The museum is spacious in most places. I think the museum made a great job in adjusting. They had some extra signs, some hand sanitations stations here and there. Also they had changed so they no longer accepted cash (as many others in Sweden). A lot of people were outdoors, like at the fun looking mini-tanks (tracked), but again, distance were kept and being outdoors felt safer anyways. I am not trying to promote Arsenalen. Just thinking they seems to deal with the bad situation in a good way, keeping afloat for long term survival but still not being unsafe when it comes to covid-19 in Sweden. All, in all, Aresenalen is open. Good for them, good for me. A side note on leadership. Aside from in the early days of the current covid-19 situation when the caretaking of elders seemed to fail, we have done prettey well and we (as well as our politicans) tried to follow science, not politicans with short term economical goals. The latter seemingly leading to far worse long term problems in many countries but the former is doable to work out in the long run. The politican in power should show leadership for the people in harsh times and unite people. Instead, some leaders in a few countries seems to have a neurodevelopmental disorder or "just" strong narcissism and sociopathy. Leading by serving is not on the table for them. Neither is leading by example, neither is surrounding oneself with people being experts on what you are not expert in. I guess it is like war. Should Generals or Politicans run a war? Look up Sun Tzu to start with. Before Covid-19, people said they would do what Sweden did if there is a similar pandemic, but when the pandemic hit, they did not follow science. Instead of empowering the experts, some flat ignored realities and told everyone its "nothing". Yeah, a lot good that did. Yes, Sweden could have kept a better disaster preparation and perhaps should not have dismantled so much thinking that "nothing bad will ever happen" after the previous cold war. Also, if not the disasters had happend in the elder care in Sweden, I think we may have had hundres of deaths, instead of like five or six thousands, so no, we were NOT perfect (who is?). Yes, some types of business have been hit very hard, but it seems others have adapted and at least live on. When enough people are united and leaders are good enough, empowering experts and doing their job on visions and hope, a lot of very hard times can be endured.

Thank you for answering my question. I would have never guessed the Russian translation for extra armour was a female country singer :)

Task list first throw the ball. Second answer q&a, another great video tks David

Great video thanks and Good boy Finn!

Love me some of that Willey!

Great video, THANK YOU.

Perhaps an addition to the video's intro could be a brief bit of footage of Finn playing fetch! Im sure the fans would absolutely love it! Im no camera guy or editor but I would think it wouldn't add too much work to the process 😁

Magnetic note pads, not for your fridge - but for the inside of your turret. Perfect. That's why I watch these.

Hi David John Gardiner here, been coming to the Tank Museum now on and off for over 50 years, My question is. How many of the tanks in the museum are ervicable, or running vehicles Thanks

Another great Q&A. British troops seem to repeat that CR.2 is the best protected tank in the world. Is there anything unclassified to indicate this or back this up? While CR.2 does seem to be heavier than other vehicles in the same class, and Chobham/ Burlington seem to have been notoriously good at stopping shaped charge threats, there seems to be nothing indicating a high resistance to kinetic threats in the same way as that of Leopard 2A5+/ M1 HA mods. In your opinion, with rounds like Svinets and Vacuum now being manufactured, is the armour on CR.2 still up to the job?

Port and Kelly's Heroes mentioned in one video, can't be bad.

Hi, I'm secretly writing to you without my hubby Chris knowing 😊. He loves listening to all your videos over n over 🙄, well every holiday we have he always thinks of places the kids would like but this year I've said we should come visit the tank museum as it's something he often mentions. We are coming to visit on the 17th August which will always be our 1st wedding anniversary. Just wondered if you'd make his day and give him a mention in your next video? His name is Chris Cooke from Glemsford in Suffolk my name is Debbie. Looking forward to our visit and buying memorabilia. 👍🏻 Xxx

Excellent as always.

Ah yes David Fletcher, the man, the myth, the legend...

Brazen Chariots a good read on the North Africa campaign.

Just noticed the angle of dangle of the tree!

Please can we have Finn's top 5 tank rides? Whippet, Mastiff....

Thanks for answering my question. Yeah I should have been more clear with my question, I was talking about the German Bison SPG.

One Russian museum had a nearly-new T-90. The driver had sold it to them, then the Army turned up wanting it back!

Fabulous Q&A as always! Thank you - a highlight of the Day Had to have a glass of port after that - Ruby, in this case 😊

Great show old chap! I do so enjoy these chats.

This helmed/backpack is very tempting!

My haynes manuals are stuck in the office of exchange at heathrow. It's been there for a month. I don't know when I'll receive it ☹️ probably it's been stuck since there's no flight to my country currently. If you're shipping to SEA, particularly Indonesia, my suggestion is to use ups/dhl, don't use royal mail, because it may be difficult for your country's postal service to ship it from the office of exchange.

Were there tigers present at Stalingrad ? When I was 10 I remember reading a book about Stalingrad... I read it over and over at the school library. Anyway, it mentioned the German October push when five divisions attacked on a narrow front against the Russians defending the tractor works, I believe. The book noted that the Germans used their full array of weaponry on this attack. It included flame throwers, stukas, nebelwerfers and their newest super-heavy tanks. In October 1942, the only tank that would fit that description is of course a Tiger. I've researched off and on lately and I can't get a definite answer. So, were there a small number of Tigers deployed to Stalingrad ? I personally don't think that there were... but that's been a constant nagging question over the years. I hope that you can answer my little question ? Thank you, again.

Did Finn help you rearrange the merchandise? It all seems to have moved between books 😀. Great Q&A, and the WWll exhibition if brilliant, I spent 6 hours there last week while it's still reasonably quiet looking at and reading everything 🤓

If anyone wants to buy a Haynes Manual from the museum,right now it is the time. At the moment,they are not simply affordable,as they usually are,they really have bargain price.

These are a great start to the day, seriously appreciate your work on these. Go Finn ! you're famous now doggo.

If the king tiger had been introduced to the war in adequate numbers and had been manned by a properly trained crew, could it have helped turn the tide of the war, and or stayed on par to the bigger and better tanks the allies started producing later on?

Omg dude was right it's awesome at half speed 👌

He's right about the half speed though XD Lol love these vids mister Willey :p

lot's of thanks from bexhill .

PLEASE PLEASE have Jingels do an audio tour of the museum. Maybe with a few of his dirty jokes and navy stories put in. Nowdays it can simply done as a MP3 download and ran from visitors own phones for people who are interested or are a fan of jingles. Doesn't have to be for the general public and all to serious. Jingles loves to waffle on about things anyway so i'm sure he would do a recording for/with you guys. I am sure a lot of people would really love that experience. Even if it is only 45 minutes or an hour long or so and doesn't cover the entire collection. People can do it as an extra bit when they visit. It would be a bit of promotion for you guys as well.

Well, I just ordered 4 books from the shop for my father. 5 books doubled the shipping cost to the US ...

How do Cobi that are partnered with the Tank Museum such as the Tiger 131 set come about? What's the process of a tank from the collection being chosen? The 131 is my favorite set. I love the channel and these Q and A videos, and I actually really enjoy you going through the shop items.

Going to need a Finn Museum Annex.

want to review a tank movie... sahara ,humphry bogart

It's been really great.....pleased...hello to Finn...... .

ref audio guides. Has the museum considered some kind of app which would give people the option. No issue of loss of equipment although there would be some investment in the audio but much of it is probably already covered in your tank chats. The family group aspect would of course still be there but its a thought

Question: What kind of hearing and eye protection would tank crews use? Thank you.

God save davied F!!!! preach brother preach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does the Brazen Chariots book mention what sort of tank he mistook for a Panzer III? Looking, I'd guess an A9 or A10, depending on just when it was.

Agree with the why no emphasis on British Tanks videos & time for Valentine is especially poor on RU-vid with just a few minutes of tank chat ever crusader seems barely cared about, would be nice to get a video on them both

Can you stock pen and sword books please

Of course you need to show the oppositions tanks, from WW2, equally for the cold war and after

Why not have a patreon link for the tank museum videos, you produce them regularly anyway so it would be "free" money and not ringfenced for any particular project....... I am sure a lot of viewers would be happy to support you

18:45 someone walking on the backlane...

I have a question, why is the Char d'Instruction (Renault FT) at the Tank Museum painted entirely black? It was previously in artillery grey which as far as I know was historically accurate. Thanks for these videos!

I purchased that tiger 1 model on the table on May 19th and it still has not arrived... I've come to the conclusion the liberty ship bringing it to the USA was sunk by a u-boat. 😔

Very great deep info, thx. ! And not avoiding the horrid ! Tanks were ment to kill people, even did own soldiers (friendly fire). Good stuff !!!

There’s a coincidence, while I’m watching this on my ipad you’re on the History channel talking about Buffaloes used in the Rhine crossing! 👍🏻🇦🇺

A local museum has a fantastic collection of 17th century Meissen porcelain. A while back, a family made the claim that an extremely ornate lid, of all things, was through no fault of the Musem looted by the Nazis in ages past. The museum undertook a background check for the lid, but in the meantime they actually sent sent it to the claimants for them to keep it in their possession as an act of good faith while the background check was undertaken. I thought that spoke very well to the Museum's reputation. And ultimately it was determined that the lid, one of 3 known to exist, did in fact belong to the claimant. So they prevailed. I guess my point is, sometimes it is what the museum does not have in its collection as opposed to what it does which makes it great.

Finn meets his likeness on the table.

What happened to the crew of Tiger tank 131?

How comfortable are the insides of various tanks?

17 pounder can penetrate the roof, floor and any part without special armour. E.g. The area behind the wheels.

Finn has a cuddly toy!!!

I completely understand why you do not use audio guides. The musum I work at is looking at introducing audio guides to help the explainers talk to some people but never to take them away from us.

Mobile pillbox? Sounds like a concrete plan!

Any of the shells used by WWII tanks, even the King Tiger, would simply bounce off Chobham armour. Even the 125mm guns on Iraqi T-72 tanks are almost totally ineffective against Chobham, so WWII tanks' guns would be like squirting water pistols at them.