Our MVT Projects
To fulfil our charitable aims, we are involved in a number of projects that help us
"restore and conserve, educate and inspire and honour and respect".
"restore and conserve, educate and inspire and honour and respect".
RBL Poppy Collecting
For many of our members, an important aspect of the hobby is to pay tribute to members of our armed services and this is expressed in one of our core values “honour and respect”. We are proud to support the Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal. Every year, members raise tens of thousands of pounds for the appeal by poppy-selling, often alongside their vehicles. If you would like to get involved in your area, please ask your local Area Secretary, or contact our Area Liaison Officer. |
80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings
In response to a survey of our members in 2022, we are offering a completely new kind of "tour" to Normandy in June 2024, to take part in the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings. To find out more click on the button:
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The National Memorial Arboretum
In 2023, we began attending events at the National Memorial Arboretum, the site of National Remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the British Armed Forces and civilian community.
Since then, we have developed a closer relationship with the NMA and have become involved in a project to support the creation of a World class Welcome and VIP Arrival Area at the south west entrance.
Since then, we have developed a closer relationship with the NMA and have become involved in a project to support the creation of a World class Welcome and VIP Arrival Area at the south west entrance.
Hill 112
The MVT is proud to support The Hill 112 Memorial Foundation. The Battle for Hill 112, located to the southwest of Caen in Normandy, was long and bloody, costing more than 7000 allied soldiers lives. It was fought from July 1944, over a 10-week period of fighting as the two sides fought to gain control of the strategic location.
Albert Figg, a Gunner with the 112th Field Regiment during the battle worked tirelessly towards the end of his life to create a permanent memorial on the hill to the men from the 43rd Wessex, 53rd Welsh, 15th Scottish and 11th Armoured Divisions who confronted six SS Panzer divisions in the struggle to take the Hill.
The MVT are proud to have been major donors and supporters of The Hill 112 Foundation.
Albert Figg, a Gunner with the 112th Field Regiment during the battle worked tirelessly towards the end of his life to create a permanent memorial on the hill to the men from the 43rd Wessex, 53rd Welsh, 15th Scottish and 11th Armoured Divisions who confronted six SS Panzer divisions in the struggle to take the Hill.
The MVT are proud to have been major donors and supporters of The Hill 112 Foundation.
Between 1988 and 1989, donors helped Albert buy and renovate a WWII Churchill Tank that was installed on the hill in the year 2000, as a lasting memorial to all the tank crews who died, many of whom burned to death inside their machines. A statue of an infantryman, donated by Michael Whitely, was the next addition to the site, followed by 112 trees that have since been planted in the shape of a Maltese Cross, creating four Avenues of Remembrance where relatives and friends can place wooden poppy crosses.
In July 2017, just a few days after Albert’s death, the statue of the infantryman was relocated to the centre of the trees and unveiled by HRH The Duke of Wessex (now The Duke of Edinburgh), who became the Foundation’s Appeal Patron in May 2019.
In 2018, the most recent addition to the site, a 25-pounder field gun purchased in part by Ben Oostra, was unveiled. While the site itself is now a fitting tribute to Albert's comrades-in-arms, the Foundation still needs help to maintain and improve the Garden of Remembrance and other features at the site.
Albert also campaigned for a film to be made to tell future generations about the supreme struggle that occurred there. It was released in 2022.
The MVT became involved with the campaign through our late Chairman Simon Johnson, who knew Albert Figg and we have funded many aspects of the memorial. Bradley Johnson, Simon’s son now heads up our partnership with the Foundation.
In July 2017, just a few days after Albert’s death, the statue of the infantryman was relocated to the centre of the trees and unveiled by HRH The Duke of Wessex (now The Duke of Edinburgh), who became the Foundation’s Appeal Patron in May 2019.
In 2018, the most recent addition to the site, a 25-pounder field gun purchased in part by Ben Oostra, was unveiled. While the site itself is now a fitting tribute to Albert's comrades-in-arms, the Foundation still needs help to maintain and improve the Garden of Remembrance and other features at the site.
Albert also campaigned for a film to be made to tell future generations about the supreme struggle that occurred there. It was released in 2022.
The MVT became involved with the campaign through our late Chairman Simon Johnson, who knew Albert Figg and we have funded many aspects of the memorial. Bradley Johnson, Simon’s son now heads up our partnership with the Foundation.
The MVT Library
Over the last 50 years, the MVT has acquired thousands of magazines, books microfiches and paperwork. They have been in deep storage for most of this time, but in 2022, the Council of Management decided to remove it from storage, catalogue and sort it and convert it to a format so it can be accessed in the future and be of use to future generations.
The first task was to catalogue everything, and this was completed last year. The next step was to prioritise and streamline the collection – some was duplicated, some available online elsewhere and some not even relevant to military vehicles. This stage took many hours of work but was completed in October. |
Most US Military Vehicle documentation is already available on the internet, so we have prioritised much rarer and difficult to find British Vehicle documentation. Once copyrighting issues have been confirmed, digitising will commence. We have sourced a digitising expert who will scan and preserve the documents and convert them into a future-proof format that can be shared online.
It is not a cheap process, and we may need to source grant aid to complete the task, but the result will be a lasting collection that will help ex-military enthusiasts in the future. When the material is ready, it will be published |