Bovington Tank Museum
The tank museum is home to a German Tiger Tank that saw service during World War II. A figure in WWII era German military uniform was once seen looking at the tank through the museum windows. It has been speculated that the figure is the ghost of a one time occupant of the tank. This is maybe the last remaining operational Tiger Tank.
According to the Bournmouth Daily Echo, 16th February 2005. ‘Museum spokesman Nik Wyness said: “Over the years, stories have circulated of unusual goings-on inside the museum with sightings of ghostly figures, mysterious footsteps and tales of staff reporting an uncomfortable feeling of being watched.”
“So to some, the idea that the museum may be haunted is not an unusual one at all.”
“One enduring story is of a grey figure believed to be that of a German officer, who is said to wander the museum floor at night. Sightings were reported so frequently that the figure has become affectionately known as “Herman the German”.
Former staff have since claimed that Herman was an invention designed to keep mischievous children away from the museum at night. But this doesn’t explain the continued sightings.
Nik added: “The museum is full of machines that were designed for war and have witnessed some of the most distressing and testing human experiences that it is possible to imagine. “Each one has a story, and so many carry the visible scars of battle that we can only speculate on the fate of their occupants. “That is the reality of any museum that features the weapons and machines of war.”
Re: Bovington Tank Museum
The Tiger I at Bovington has a well known history: it was shipped brand new to the Afrika Korps in 1943 and immediately bressed into service. It was disabled in combat, abandoned by its crew (the commander was injured but survived to tell the tale), captured by the 8th Army and shipped back to England for tests on the double.
Truth to be told the Allies had already captured a Tiger in good conditions (an early production tank rushed to Stalingrad to help break the siege which had broken down behind enemy lines) but the Soviets were not renown for freely sharing information with their allies.
Mind that Bovington also has a number of other German vehicles, most of them captured at the end of the world at an experimental facility in Sennelager, including a very rare Jagdtiger tank destroyer.
Truth to be told I do not believe the place nor any tank is haunted but if we really need a culprit I would skip over the famous and warlike Tiger I and point towards the unassuming 251-D armored ambulance. This is one of the vehicles in Bovington which saw the most service during WWII before being captured.
In Distortion We Trust
Re: Bovington Tank Museum
I’d love to drive it, haunted or not. How often do you get to drive a Porche, let alone a ‘tank’ by Porche?
All kidding aside, I agree that the ambulance would be a more likely suspect. I’ve heard of, but never seen, haunted tanks before, but many of them are restored battlefield salvage (made from the wrecks of several tanks) or repurchased after several wars in South America. The Bovington Tiger is an unlikely suspect at best.
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