News | British Motor Museums

23rd October 2015

Military Vehicles Day at Brooklands Museum on Sunday 15th November 2015

Brooklands Museum will take on a camouflaged air on Sunday 15th November as scores of assorted vehicles ranging from armoured cars to troop carriers and motorcycles from all eras congregate for the Museum’s 13th annual Military Vehicles Day.

Among the fleets of Jeeps and Land Rovers setting up base for the day at the 32-acre site in Weybridge, Surrey will be a Commer Q4 troop carrier and a pair of amphibious 6-wheel-drive Alvis Stalwarts. These five-tonne load carriers from the 1960s, along with their sister vehicles Saracen, Salamander and Saladin, were known for their exceptional versatility off-road and through water. Another household automotive name is Daimler, which will be represented by some Ferret Scout cars used for reconnaissance in the 1950s.

The event attracts vehicle designs from across the globe: booked to attend are a WWII German signals van, restored to its original condition and a Fiat Topolino which was once owned by leading aviation figure and founding Chairman of Brooklands Museum, Sir Peter Masefield. The white Fiat featured in the 1954 movie The Dam Busters in a scene depicting Barnes Wallis visiting Weybridge, where it can be clearly seen in the background outside an aircraft hangar. This links it directly back to Brooklands, where Wallis ran the Vickers Research &Development department after the War in the Clubhouse and where he built the Stratosphere Chamber, which Museum visitors can see today.

Based in and around the Paddock area will be re-enactors representing military personnel demonstrating their equipment and always keen to speak to visitors about their areas of expertise. The Luftwaffe, Russian group Defenders of the Motherland and Normandy 44 as well as Winston Churchill (courtesy of Stan ‘Winstan’ Streather) and Field Marshal Montgomery will all be represented together with Staff Cars and RAF personnel.

At 11am a two-minute silence across the site will be heralded by a bugler while from noon a beautifully-restored Routemaster bus from London Bus Museum will take groups of spectators to a viewing area alongside the off-road course at neighbouring Mercedes-Benz World, where some of the lighter military vehicles will be put through their paces on the tricky terrain. Later on, at 2.15pm back over on the Museum site, they will line up to tackle the steep incline of Test Hill.

The Museum’s collections of cars, motorcycles and aircraft will be open as usual and visitors will be able to discover how Brooklands was involved in both World Wars through aircraft and weapon design, testing and manufacture. Concorde Experiences will be available too and the Museum Shop will be packed with games, toys, books, DVDs and other memorabilia. The Sunbeam Café will be open, together with a barbeque, and running all day will be three dynamic rides in the 4D Theatre enabling visitors to race around the original Brooklands track, fly with the Red Arrows or lap LeMans with racing legend Mike Hawthorn in his D-Type Jaguar. As a special Autumn offer, rides in the 4D Theatre will be just £3 each for adults and £2 for children.

Gates open at 9.30am and the Museum closes at 4pm (last entry one hour before closing). Admission prices (including London Bus Museum) are: Adults £11, Seniors £10, Children (5-16 yrs) £6, Family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children) £30. *The ‘Concorde Experience’ is £5 for adults and £3 for children and rides in the 4D Theatre are Adults £3, Children £2. Visitor parking is in The Heights off Wellington Way for this event – follow event signage. www.brooklandsmuseum.com

23rd October 2015

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