After a massive reorganization of REME, which saw the closure of their depots at Arborfield and Borden, as well as move to their new home at the former RAF station that is now MOD Lyneham, the museum recently opened their doors to the public.
Located in the old Officers Mess, the museum held its first show in October. The new facility boasts a number of linked rooms with various displays, as well as the main hall housing various full size vehicles! Most notable exhibits being the Churchill 3 AVRE (Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers), CRARRV(Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle) and Sherman BARV (Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle). As well as a large collection of tastefully displayed weapons and medals.
Clubs, SIGs and traders were all nestled amongst the exhibits throughout the museum. Although some of the galleries seemed quite dark – to preserve fragile artifacts - the show attracted quite a few visitors who seemed keen to explore. In fact, the museum’s spacious car park seemed to be fairly full all day long. To keep all and sundry well fed and watered, the Crown’s Café, converted from the old Officer’s Mess Bar, served a surprisingly wide range of hot and cold food for most of the day.
|
ERs stand tucked away in darkened room!
|
Purpose built main hall filled with 1:1 scale vehicles!
|