Collections
British Armour
Mk IV tank Deborah II, a reproduction of the original Deborah which was knocked out of action at the Battle of Cambrai on 20th November 1917. Deborah II was built for the Guy Martin TV documentary “GUY MARTIN WW1 TANK”.
3-Ton Crossley Halftrack, built in 1926. In 1925, following The Great War, the British Army ran a competition for manufacturers to produce a half-tracked vehicle with good off-road capabilities as well as on-road performance.
Centurion AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) FV4003 (02 BA 58) was designed as a replacement for the Churchill VII AVRE and first entered service in 1962. It served with the Royal Engineers from 1962 – 1997.
Centurion Mk 13, FV4017 (09 BB 33) was originally manufactured in in 1957 as a Mk 8 with a redesigned turret front and roof to accommodate the resilient gun mount and a new commander’s cupola.
Centurion ARV Mk2 (Armoured Recovery Vehicle) FV4006 was introduced, after extensive trials, in 1956. The Mk2 was built as an ARV from new, rather than being converted from earlier tanks.
Chieftain MBT (Main Battle Tank) MK 5 FV4201 (02 EB 05) was originally built by Vickers Armstrong at their Elswick works in Newcastle as a FV4201 Chieftain MBT (Main Battle Tank) Mk2.
Scorpion CVRT (Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance Tracked) FV101 was the lead vehicle of the fire support type in the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance group, and was introduced into the British Army in 1973.
CVRT Sultan FV105 (92 KB 20) entered service in the early 1970s as a direct replacement for the Saracen Command Vehicle as it offered increased speed and agility.
Fox FV721 CVRW (Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Wheeled)) was a 4×4 armoured car introduced into the British Army as a replacement for the Ferret Scout Car and the Saladin Armoured Car. It entered service in 1973.
Sabre CVRT (Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked)) is a hybrid with the turret of a Fox CVRT modified to fit onto the hull of a Scorpion CVRT.
FV432 APC (Armoured Personal Carrier) was designed to replace the Saracen APC and first entered service in the British Army in 1962. It was manufactured in the UK by GKN.
FV434 Armoured Repair Vehicle was used by the REME (Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers) from the 1960s until very recently. Its role is to assist in the repair of damaged and disabled fighting vehicles with its 3-ton Hiab crane.
Saladin Armoured Car FV601 (01 CC 69) manufactured by Alvis in the UK and entering service in late 1959. It is fitted with the quick-fire 76mm L5A1 gun.
Saracen FV603 APC (Armoured Personal Carrier) first entered service with the British Army in 1952 and was deployed all over the world. It undertook many roles including that of an armoured police car, ambulance, and Command Post.
Stalwart HMLC FV630 Stalwart (High Mobility Load Carrier) first entered service in 1960 and was manufactured by Alvis in the UK. It was designed to deliver up to 5 tonnes of supplies throughout the battlefield.
Combat Engineer Tractor FV180, or more commonly known as the CET, is a tracked, lightly armoured amphibious vehicle fitted with a large bucket for earthworking.
The Mighty ANTAR was the standard tank transporter for the British Army, entering service as the Mk 1 in 1951. The Mk3 entered service in the early 1960s to cope with the increasing weight of the Centurion Tanks.
USA
Russian
SA-9 Gaskin is a short range, low altitude, self-propelled SAM (Surface to Air Missile) carrying system, based on the BRDM chassis.
SA-13 Gopher consists of four ready-to fire solid fuel, short-range, low altitude, infrared-guided Surface to Air Missiles mounted on a modified mobile tracked MT-LB chassis.
ZPU range of anti-aircraft guns is a family of towed anti-aircraft guns developed in 1945 at the end of the Second World War, entering into service in 1949.
Swedish
STV 4 Snow Trac was used successfully by NATO forces in arctic conditions during the Cold war. Our example was used by the British Royal Marines in Norway at the same time.
Hagglunds BV 206 was designed to work in some of the most hazardous conditions in the world, particularly in the mountainous regions of Sweden where any standard vehicle would have failed.
Howitzer
QF (quick-fire) 6-Pounder Anti-Tank Gun entered service in 1942 to replace the previous 2-Pounder before it.
L5 Pack Howitzer 105MM was adopted by the British Army, as a light gun, from the early 1960s until the mid-1970’s
15cm Schwere Feldhaubitze 18 or sFH 18 (“heavy field howitzer, model 18″).
Pistols
Webley Revolver was a hinged frame, self-extracting revolver. In the dreadful conditions of trench warfare, the revolver was more reliable in almost every respect than the Self Loading Pistol.
9mm Glock self-loading pistol, a superb design that shocked the conservative pistol producers.
Rifles
MARTINI-HENRY .577/450 was a breech-loading, single-shot, lever-actuated rifle adopted by the British Army entered service in 1871
LEE METFORD .303” Rifle replaced the Martini-Henry rifle in 1888 after 9 years of development and trials.
LONG LEE ENFIELD .303″ was adopted on the 11th November 1895 it differed from the Lee-Metford mainly in the improved design of the rifling
Short magazine Lee-Enfield .303″ or “Smellie” as it was affectionally known. This SMLE was intended to replace all the long rifles and short carbines with one weapon.
No.4 Lee Enfield was a re-designed Short Magazine Lee Enfield with the view towards being mass produced.
NO 5 Lee Enfield Commonly referred to as the “jungle carbine” this was developed to meet the need in the Far East for a shorter, lighter arm.
SUB Machine Guns
STEN MACHINE CARBINE was developed to use a minimal amount of material, capable of being mass produced by unskilled workers and to fire under all conditions.
STIRLING MACHINE CARBINE enter service in 1953, gradually replacing the Sten. It was known generally as the Sterling, named after the Sterling factory that manufactured it.
Light Machine Guns
BREN LIGHT MACHINE GUN .303 Without any shadow of doubt, the Bren has to be the finest light machine gun ever made.
BREN L4 This is a Bren Light Machine Gun that has been converted from .303’ to 7.62mm. (NATO)
Lewis automatic machine gun is a Gas Operated, top loaded Magazine fed machine gun, cambered for the British .303 round
MG 42 Nicked name “Hitlers Buzz Saw”, derived from the sound it made discharging up to 1800 rounds per minute
Medium Machine Guns
VICKERS MACHINE GUN .303”. The Grand Old lady of No-Mans Land. Without doubt, the finest medium machine gun ever made by anyone.
M1919 BROWNING .30 CAL. MACHINE GUN saw widespread service during WW2, The Korean war, The Vietnam war, by NATO countries until the 1990s and is still in use today in some countries.
Designed in Czechoslovakia the ZB-53 was an air-cooled, belt fed machine gun which was used extensively by the British Army in WW2.
Heavy Machine Guns
BROWNING M2 MACHINE GUN .50″ CAL M2 is a belt-fed, recoil-operated, air-cooled, crew-served machine gun. The gun is capable of single shot, as well as full automatic fire
Assault Rifle
L1A1 SELF LOADING RIFLE (SELF LOADING RIFLE) Commonly known as the S.L.R. adopted into service in 1957
SA80 RIFLE 5.56MM (223”) L85 A1 known as the SA 80 In polite circles is the current assault riffle issue to the British Forces
Anti Tank Weapons
Boyes Anti-Tank Rifle This was the soldiers dream before W.W.2, because it was a shoulder fired rifle that could stop a tank.
Infantry Support weapons
BRANDT 81MM MORTAR developed from the Stokes Mortar of World War I by the French Brandt company.
LAW 66, M72, L1A1 LIGHT ANTI-TANK WEAPON is a portable, one-shot, 66 mm, unguided, anti-tank weapon, firing a solid fuel propelled anti-armour rocket.
LAW 80 LIGHT ANTI-ARMOUR WEAPON is a man portable, disposable, anti-tank weapon currently in use by the British Army
Nissen Hut, Designed during WW1 by Major Peter Norman Nissen RE and put into production in August 1916.
Types of Armour
Types of Ammunition
Wireless set No. 18 and its later incarnation No. 68 were short range manpack radios. Originally designed as the wireless set No.8
Wireless Set No. 19 was developed in the early 1940’s as a compact transceiver to be fitted in tanks and other Vehicles.
Wireless Set No. 38 was developed in 1942 as a short range infantry manpack.
Wireless Set No. 52 was developed in 1943 as a medium range vehicle or base station transceiver.
Wireless Set No. 88 was developed in the late 1940’s to replacement for the No. 38 set.
Reception Set 109, a general purpose receivers for ground and vehicle stations used in conjunction with the radio transmitter WS 76.
C42 / 45 station radio was developed for radio communication in Tanks and soft skin vehicles,
UK/PRC-349 was the smallest and lightest of the Clansman VHF radios
UK/PRC-351 replaced the Larkspur stations radio A41 and A42 from 1976
UK/VRC-353 is a high power mobile VHF set which replaced the C42 and C45 Larkspur radios in armoured vehicles and Landrovers.
