With the summer holidays in full flow, chasing the crazy little cartoon characters has become a worldwide phenomenon. Although initially confused by people on a Pokemon hunt, we are now equally as caught up in the hunt.

The museum here at Armourgeddon is open from 9am to 5pm all week. With a huge number of tanks, military vehicles, exhibitions and military paraphernalia on show, we can keep you entertained for hours.  Many of our displays are interactive too. You can communicate via a Morse Code machine, speak from one end of the museum to the other on a World War II field telephone and hold replica rifles. Although the tanks in the museum cannot be entered for health and safety reasons, the displays enable you to walk around the vehicles and really get to grips with what it would have been like to serve in the military in one of these vehicles.

This week we have new additions in our museum: Pokemons! With Pokemon Go taking the world by storm this summer holiday season, we have had a number of people turn up to catch a Celfairy, Ponyta, Weedle, Bellsprout and more. Little did we know we were so popular with the new characters of the augmented reality world

Can’t get your kids away from their screens this summer holiday? Then a visit to us is perfect. The journey here could be Pokemon Go searching and with plenty here to find, you will also find an opportunity to look into the museum for a history lesson or two.

We also have a new arrival, a Type 69 T54 tank. The Type 69 T54 was the main battle tank of the Chinese army, along with its counterpart, the Type 79. These developments of the Type 59, based on the Soviet design T-54A were the first battle tanks developed independently by China.

The history of this tank begins after the Sino-Soviet split when the Soviet Union withdrew its technical staff and support for the Chinese arms industry. China’s Inner-Mongolia First Machine Group Co Ltd (catchy company name), known as the 617 Factory, was instructed to improve on the T-54A design in 1963 creating the Type 69. The changes included; a dual-axis stabilized 100mm smoothbore gun, a new 580hp engine and an IR searchlight.

The Chinese army captured a T-62 tank during the Sino-Soviet border conflict late in 1969 and after examining the parts, copied the Soviet Luna IR searchlight system along with other components and installed them into the Type 69. Although the PLA (the armed forces of the Communist Party of China), were disgruntled with the performance of the Type 69. It ironically became one of China’s most successful armoured vehicle exports with over 2000 Type 69s sold worldwide in the 1980s. With relations between China and the West thawing somewhat during the 80’s decade, the weapons systems were improved using technologies imported from Europe, such as; the British Marconi FCS and the L7 105mm gun. The new version was named the Type 79.

Selling hundreds of the Type 69 to both sides of the Iran-Iraq war during 1996, many were later used by Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq War.

By 1991, in the depths of the Gulf War, Iraq had upgraded some Type 69s with a 105mm gun, a 160mm mortar, a 125mm gun with an autoloader and frontal layer armour welded on the glacis plate. Reported to have fought harder than the elite Republican Guard units, possibly because Saddam ordered the Republican Guard to preserve their strength whilst sending the Type 69s to the frontline battles.

It is during this time in the Gulf War that the Type 69 that arrived at Armourgeddon last week was captured and taken. In pretty good shape on the outside, it had been many years since this tank’s engine had been started. The restoration team at Armourgeddon loves a challenge like that and the tank was not even a minute off the low-loader before the tools were out and the team had the hood up! Not even making it to the workshop (although perhaps more to do with the weather than the team’s piqued interest, the Type 69 was able to be started up pretty easily, although the immediate smoke-screen would have been one the army would have been proud of laying.

Although unlikely to be on show in the museum, the Type 69’s inaugural start up on site can be seen on our Facebook Page. The Pokemons however, are available for all! Entrance to the museum is free for under 5s, and £5 for all others. If you are on site for an experience, your spectator charge includes entry to the museum and if you are here on an experience voucher yourself, you gain free entry to the museum.

With the Café de Normandie available for sandwiches, coffees and snacks, we can provide quite the day out for you avid screen-lover whilst giving those with an interest based more in real life and history an entertaining day.

Please note that our experience days book up very quickly and require reservation in advance. For entrance to the museum, there is no need to book in advance.