17 Fuellers and guests met on a freezing Wednesday lunchtime at the main gate of the Defence Academy in Shrivenham. After collecting our passes we navigated through the base before parking up outside the Tank Museum. Only one of our vehicles was pulled over for a security spot check; the guard commented that the reason for the check was that he liked the look of the car!
This particular Tank museum is out of bounds to the general public and we were very privileged to be shown around a large collection of tanks and military vehicles, including a Tornado Jet Fighter.
As the majority of the exhibits are still able to be started and driven away, we were asked not to pull any levers or switches when climbing inside the tanks! Many of us found the museum so interesting that we missed lunch.
Next, having adorned white coats and following an overview of the course “Petroleum logistics for the British Army”, we split into small groups and visited one of the laboratories where a number of experiments were in progress. The experiments including various techniques to work out the viscosity and the makeup of different fuels.
I’m sure that those members of our group who are in the oil/fuel sector were keen to participate in the experiments and the rest of us found it very interesting to understand how important the management and distribution of oil and fuel is to our Armed Forces.
Our thanks go to our Shrivenham Station hosts and to Stephen Lloyd for organising the day.
