WW2 Veteran returns model tank to Bovington army camp

George Martin was training as a gunner at Bovington Army Camp in 1944

A World War Two veteran has returned a model tank he took from an army camp more than 70 years ago.

George Martin, 88, nabbed the small lead Sherman tank used for training from Bovington in Dorset in 1944.

Mr Martin, from Crondall, Hampshire, kept the tank as pride of place on his mantelpiece but has returned it to the camp, now home of the Tank Museum.

He said: "I was worried that if I died it would be thrown away and that its story would be forgotten".

Mr Martin had trained with 52RTR as a gunner for a Sherman tank.

In order to simulate conditions on a firing range, a series of small lead Sherman tanks had been laid out on a table top for the trainees to take shots at.

Mr Martin said after the training was over he decided he would like one of them to keep as a souvenir.

The little tank went with him around the rest of his service in Egypt, Japan and Burma until he left the Army in 1953.

Mr Martin visited the Tank Museum to present his treasured souvenir to curator David Willey.

Mr Willey said: "This lead tank is not an item we previously held in the collection and coming to us with such a good story - and the fact it's been cherished so long by its owner - makes this a very worthy addition to our collections here."