Viewing Platforms

30th November 2010

Viewing Platforms

The German Tiger Tank 131 is one of only six left in the world, and the only one complete and in running order. It was the very first Tiger Tank to be captured during World War 2. Up until then only drawings smuggled out of Germany gave the British any idea of what one looked like.

Tiger 131 was captured whilst defending a ridge in Tunisia in April 1943. A lucky shot from a British tank jammed its turret forcing the crew to abandon.

The capture created a lot of news and the tank was paraded in Parliament Square, as well as being visited by the King and Queen and Winston Churchill.

After the tour the tank was completely taken to pieces for evaluation purposes, finally coming to the Bovington Tank Museum in 1948, where it remains to this day.

We were approached to design a viewing platform which provides a bird’s eye view of the engine compartment. The finished product features two sets of stairs and a bridge. It was supplied with base plates and lockable casters so can be easily moved when required. It was also powder coated in desert camouflage colour to blend in with the tank.