Never apologize for that lovely dog! Go Finn!

Finn has his own merch!

Last year, I was there, and during the closing hours of the first day of TankFest, a British family approached me, and we started chatting, and I gave them a little presentation about the vehicles, answered their questions, etc. Before we said farewell to each other, the father said to me: 'You really should work here'. Considering the fact that I am a mild-mannered Hungarian who doesn't speak the language properly, I have to say, never felt that proud for years. Wish you the best, a Hungarian Tank Enthusiast.

I suspect Finn is now deservedly a "National Treasure" - believe he has his own museum with a few armoured vehicles thrown in for variety. Oh, David was quite good too.

When i asked if you could sign one of my online store orders, you did so. You didn't have to, but the small gesture has made me feel indebted to the Museum. I'm glad to have supported the Museum, and i'll be glad to do so in future! Hope everything goes well, chaps!

Top tip if you have a dog that is reluctant to drop the toy or ball that he wants you to throw: Have two of them, so he will have to drop one to get the other. Then you pick up the first one while he's running after the second.

I have a feeling Finn (spelling?) might be the true master mind behind The Tank Museum.

The Finn soft toy is genius - love it!

Finn needs to do his top 5 tanks! Looks like Finn would like a nip of the cider.

So glad to hear the museum is opening again! Good for y'all. ;-)

37:30 one of the main issues with numbers of T-34 produced during the war concerns hundreds of T-34 were rebuilt and repaired at factories from damaged hulls. You can find countless photos of early T-34 hulls with later hexagonal turrets fitted, or hulls from one factory with a turret from another factory fitted. When these damaged vehicles were sent for repair, some factories recorded them as new vehicles upon sending them back out, while other factories did not count them as new vehicles. Then you add some factories (STZ) for example - Stalingrad - maybe not counting their production figures at critical moments (Autumn '42) when the priority was simply to pour out as many bare-bones tanks as possible ... and also the fact that the Germans captured some T-34 production facilities at Kharkov and started building T-34 of their own (yes they captured plenty, but they also built their own T-34 too) ... yes, numbers can get confusing as to how many were built.

The thing people don't realize it wasn't just arms, vehicles, ships and munitions. The United States also supplied raw materials, uniforms, medical supplies, food, and fuel. The UK is one of the few countries to pay all the loans from WWII back. The UK is more than our ally. It is a much more.

So true. The value of knowledge is in sharing it. Hoarded knowledge has a tiny fraction of its potential value. So many folks don’t understand this.

The P-51 Mustang was originally a British request for a fighter to supplement their domestic production. That worked out for everyone.

David, first you need to change the title to 'Curator and Finn'. Second you should sell autographed photos of Finn for 10 Quid each for the museum...?? Finn should be the mascot of the museum... YEAH! FINN!! 🇬🇷🙃

THE FINN! You need to sell a Finn Ball Thrower. I could use one, my shoulder is gone. Three books from David Fletcher...wow, this is like "awesome tank porn". It sucks being poor, lol. It also sucks that China is allowed to ship for nothing.

I visited Duxford in 1998. An old RAF interceptor base during the Battle of Britain. Great place to visit along with the Imperial War Museum in Leeds. Newly opened in 1998 it was a gem of a museum. The little places are worth seeing also.

"Welcome to the Tank Museum car boot sale" "No, i will not do them inflatable shells for a quid!!!" ;-)

Will this be the final 👏🏻 clap!!!!??? ☹️Finn is stealing the show. Thank you so much David for keeping us entertain during all of this extreme situation. I think we all can say we have greatly appreciated your effort to entertain as well as keeping the museum “alive and current” even through the crisis. That estimate of $33billion. Was that in today’s money or back in 1941?

Thanks for answering my question. I watch this every week.

Haha, that Cluedo game. The surest way to become a curator, is to "create an opening" at the time of your choosing 😉

Finn is a hell of a mascot for the museum

Brilliant yet again DW! Love all that you are doing to keep the museum going. I can't wait to visit once again next time I'm home to the UK.

These films are great. I'm 53 and I grew up on 20th century history, and read it ever since. Visited your museum. Fantastic collection. Will do again. Cheers from Australia.

"North End of the Orchard" Excellent! 😊 55:00 "Closure". An over-used phrase now, but I think the right one

Being the curator of a museum like this is a dreamjob. Being a pensioner now wouldn't stop me if a job like this was offered to me.

You finally got me bought some books and models from the shop ! Really enjoying the content that's been coming out recently ! All the best

I'm happy to see that Finn's popularity is going strong; I hope you keep these Q&A sessions going no that you're opening again! Thank you for answering a question I asked a couple of sessions ago.

Completely agree about the Speer books, they should be a must read for anyone with an interest in World War 2.

I'd love to be a curator, especially at the National Railway Museum in York

Thanks David for all the videos. Very informative and entertaining through these strange times. Keep them coming.

Thanks for wishing me a Happy Birthday! Made me happy to see that at the beginning

Marvelous, Museum Opening. A Track at a time, a journey of Thousand Miles, starts with a single Track.

Bought a Haynes manual on the RR armoured car great price & arrived in 48hrs, well pleased. Got the email re the reopening of the museum, great news & hope to visit again soon.

56:08 I love the short break after backside its so stupidly funny.

Exactly, as a fellow museum worker I do have to say that your description on museum work is spot on.

thank you for making this video. gotta love the effort of you keeping finn entertained while you make this video.

Just delighted that the Museum is open again, with obvious restrictions! Hope it all goes well.

Please don't stop doing these videos just because the museum is now open again. The tank museum is a fair old trek for most of the UK, it's not something we can do often up north. These videos really are special to people like me.

Thank You for these and pat Finn for me.

I really Enjoy these Tank Museum question and answers. When the pandemic is over I hope it can continue

Just like to say thanks for these videos, Davids voice is a calming factor in these turbulent times. I'd also like to say that the products are brilliant, my father was a happy recipient of some of your beer (Tiger131 and Little Willie) on Father's Day. Keep up the good work! I'm looking forward to visiting on tiger day in the coming months!

Fantastic! A new Video! Will watch it over breakfast Tomorrow Morning! 😊

Here's a classic Hollywood reference: David says Finn might turn into a regular Asta!

Great stuff! Love these chats.

Wow, books, inflatable tanks shells, models, chocolate, tea and now a Finn puppy mill and all at the Tank Museum!!! LOL On a serious note most if not all museums accept volunteers and it is a perfect way to get experience and see if you like that environment. I volunteered at an Aviation Museum for a couple of years and get to spend those hours around aircraft, bush planes to military and the people who shared my passion!

This is so wholesome

I am pleased the Museum is opening, but am hoping that the Curator Q&A series continues. Love to have it on while doing something else then zoom in for the really interesting bits.

Dave, thank you so much for providing this escape from isolation drudgery. It is much appreciated. That being said, I have my 80 year old mother living with me, and i have to report when Finn is next going to be on the TV. We have a sneaky port, watch the clip, and she toddles off to bed, happy as anything :)

Thank you sir for a very informative and entertaining show.

There you go Mr Willey, i popped online to pick up a couple ciders and a pint glass and ended up getting a tiger model kit and clotted cream fudge as well. hope to visit the museum again soon.

Thank you for recommending The Tank War by Mark Urban. Excellent book, really enjoying it.

Just ordered the Douglas Newton book, thanks for the tip and Love your channel! Supporting you every which way I can ;-j

As always very enjoyable chat .

just love allll of these ^"Q&A´s"^ Vielen Dank und macht weiter so.

Great news about reopening! Unfortunately, those of us from the US can't really visit yet. But, one day... I am always amazed at your encyclopedic knowledge of all things armored. Your videos are always a learning experience. Thank you. And, I think I will pass on the cider when I can finally visit. :-))

Thank you

Cheers from Prague! First of all I'd like to say, that these Q&A videos are tremendously enjoyable and I am very glad, you've decided to keep going with them. I'd also like to thank you for giving the other military museums the spotlight during the online Tankfest. Now I know, what I'm going to see on my next trip to Vienna. I'd love to visit you at Bovington as well, but that's unfortunately a bit more complicated. Hopefully I'll be able to attend a Tankfest in a not too distant future. As for a question for the Q&A, I am really curious to know, how does one retreat in a tank. Let's say, that you are a Panther commander and your position is being overrun by enemy forces. Is there any chance, that you are getting that Panther out of there intact? What were the tactics for such situations back then and what are they like now? And how about the very first tanks of the Great War, was retreat even an option for them? Thank you very much and good luck with the reopening. I hope everything goes as smooth as possible.

Just lots of smiles😁 but joking aside, really the appreciate proper, historical content - thank you from the lockdown

I love to go to the museum but to far away like 3-4 hours work and never apologise for the dog the dog is more than welcome to but in lol love ur dog ad ur videos

Thanks for the update re postage. Shipping cost to Australia now pretty much halved!. Order placed. :)

With the Israeli APC philosophy it mainly came down to two elements, firstly when they were designing the first version of the tank they noticed tanks with more ammunition capacity could remain engaged longer and performed better so they designed the tank to carry 100 rounds and require minimal resupply in combat, probably a bit of an overreaction but resulted in the large stowage capacity. Second was very limited manpower they couldn't afford to tie up personnel driving APC's on and off the battlefield and not actively contributing. So they combined the two and ended up with a tank able to carry six soldiers into combat at the cost of ammunition capacity. In reality its doctrine has evolved such that its main use is as a egress point for tanks parked in front of fixed fortifications such as pillboxes at roadblocks allowing tank crews to be rotated and ammunition to be resupplied while under cover and to be a ride home for infantry when the tank has exhausted its standard ammunition supply and as such has room for the infantry to board. Finally when the Merkava II was being retired last decade after being succeeded by the III and IV they realised they could quite cheaply and easily hollow it out removing the gun, ammunition and other unneeded tank gubbins and reuse the hull as a heavily armoured APC.

Great as always..fine dog as well..

These are the best commercials ever! I need to get some tank dog merch now lol

Thank you for another great Q&A. I was interested in your reference to the RAF Regiment. My uncle, who passed away last year, served with the Regiment in Burma and he described the experience of being under fire in a trench while defending an airfield - it sounded truly terrifying. We can only be thankful that the subsequent generations haven't had to go through a similar experience. On a lighter note, my family clearly paid attention to my pre-birthday hints as I am now in possession of a range of Tank Museum shop items, including the tank socks, T-34 Haynes Manual and the Richard Ogorkiewicz book. All 3 highly recommended - the amount of information and great photos in the T34 book is particularly impressive. Hello to Finn as usual - I suspect that if you do many more of these, it will be him sat in the chair at the start of the film!

Finn is a cool dog.

A very good look at Lend Lease - nice to see Finn at play! :-)

The Saracen Handbook: bought it recently, Saw them a lot during the 'Troubles' in several roles, APC, Ambulance, Bomb Disposal and want to make a Belfast, 1970's diorama. Great source of info for model makers.

Finn: "Stardom???? Just toss my ball...."

Hi Mr Willey, love the Q & A's & will miss em when you have to get back to the 'day job'. Albeit it's great news that the museum is opening. Maybe you could make it a once a month thing & invite guests like David Fletcher & Al Murray etc to answer a few questions ... and to throw the ball for Finn!

It’s a pleasure watching these talks which are informative. Please can you provide more information on 21sr Army Group breakout from Normandy?? Please continue these talks and it’s joy to see Finn giving his contribution.

In regards to the bit where David was discussing The Railwaymen and trying to find the right word, perhaps closure or peace?

Did the Americans try to encourage/influence stadardisation in the British manufacture of tanks and did they try to help with the conversion of weaponds/tank production ?

Excellent.

You know you've arrived when they create a puppet of you. The appeal to buy something was heard. I've several of your book offerings on the way. Good luck with the merch.

Really very interesting David Willey ! History around Roosevelt, becoming curator !! So many T34's ?, undo them into ploughs I hope ! ! By the way, you got a very nice grand garden, looks lot like mine, is very relaxed !!!

Great content 👍

Hi Finn! And David to

I Hope to visit the museum one day.

A nice early appearance by Finn. Duxford is an excellent military museum. IWM Manchester isn't so good.

Thanks for answering my question. I didn't check any of my books before asking, as I thought I had seen pictures of StuG crews with red on their uniforms. It seems that they only have waffenfarbe piping around the collar patches, and the epaulettes.

What rank has Finn been given and does he have a uniform as mascot for the tank museum? Does the museum have its own colours?

Love Fin! Maybe Fin can host a talk about unit mascots!

Neat doggo!

16:09 Zephyr (?) German engineering also developed a mache version of extra/spaced/skirts with equal protective value at ±20% waight. but development and production costs made them opt for solid plate's

FINNIGAN!!!

There was a really good “we have ways” podcast that mentionned lend lease a couple of weeks ago. I knew that Britain had provided a lot to Russia alongside the US, but I hadn’t realised that as well as the US supplying Britain, Britain had also supplied to the US forces.

Hi David, thanks for answering my previous questions! This is more relevant to the museum's functions so I'm not sure how much it falls under things you can answer on these Q&A or whether you know the answer or not (given the times), but does the Tank Museum organize any sort of lecture series, symposiums, etc.?

Just received my books from the tank museum & the dog puppet, nice little touch of a signed thank you card from some dude called David?🤔🤷🏻‍♂️ & Star of the show Fin🤣😂👍🤝

Hi David. Question for you... What's the interface between you, and Richard Smith? What do you both do, and on what basis do you separate jobs between you?

Dear Mr Willey and Finn, My family love coming to the tank museum, we come every half term and school holidays. My daughter Eleanor and son Harry would like to ask what has happened to the KV-1 tank, it wasn’t there the last time we came, it’s her favourite tank. Also will it be repainted in green not white wash, I guess it’s in the new display?. Harry asked for his 3rd birthday on tuesday if we can go back to the museum as he really misses it, my wife loves it too because she can get a glass of wine in the canteen! Thanks for all the content you put up and we can’t wait to come back for our holidays. Andrew Nash

The Railway Man I found the book and the film brilliant, can recommend the book and DVD without reservation.

I'm heading to you on the 19th July! BIT EXSITED

The 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring was originally an Airborne Infantry Division and by German military doctrine part of the Luftwaffe. After the Battle of Crete, Hitler would never again approve another large scale airborne operation. Göring increased the size and scope of the unit to gather more power to himself and curry favor with Hitler. I really enjoyed your video.

On museums to visit in the UK if you are interested in small arms through the ages the Royal Armouries in Leeds and a few other sites are a great visit.

Speaking of other good military museums, the fleet air arm museum is quite good.

Thank you, I'm really enjoying the tank chats. You mentioned that Britain finished paying its Lend Lease bill on December 31st 2006. Did the USSR complete its payments due to it becoming the enemy?

You don't have to apologise for Finn, you might even say "you're welcome" instead :). It makes me ridiculously happy whenever he comes on screen :)

I live 1/2 hour from the museum, what I want most is a Finn puppet for my kids!

All we need now is a Davis fletcher soft toy