Archive & Supporting Collection

The Tank Museum’s Archive & Supporting Collection is the world’s foremost research centre on the subject of armoured warfare.

Designated as a Place of Deposit for the National Archive, the resources it holds are directly related to the Royal Armoured Corps, especially the Royal Tank Regiment and its predecessors.

The Tank Museum also holds the Roll of Honour for the Royal Armoured Corps. Find out more and search the Roll of Honour here.

A close up image of several items in the Museum archive. The top left shows an old book about the Tiger 1 Tank from The School of Tank Technology, November 1943. To the top of the image an original Tigerfibel in a protective bag., The bottom of the image shows a casualty card from WW2.

The Tank Museum Archive is the UK’s foremost research centre on the subject of armoured warfare. It is a Place of Deposit for The National Archives and holds documents, photographs, technical drawings, maps, moving images, books, and journals directly related to the Royal Armoured Corps and particularly the Royal Tank Regiment and its predecessors.

The Supporting Collection houses the Museum’s object collection (with the exception of vehicles). It spans four stores and includes uniforms, medals, flags, weapons, ammunition, models, art, radios, and technical instruments.

An image from inside the Museum archive. Grey filing cabinets fill the left side of the image with writing and numbers on each. the right side of the image shows a series of beige boxes, filling shelves.

The Tank Museum Archive welcomes enquiries and research requests on the topic of armoured warfare and service with the Royal Armoured Corps, the Royal Tank Regiment and its predecessors.

Enquiries are subject to a minimum fee of £25 which covers the initial enquiry and the first 30 minutes, with a further £25 for an additional 30 minutes and +£25 for every hour thereafter (up to a maximum of 3 additional hours).

Other charges may apply (reproduction, photocopying, scanning, copies of entries etc).

Charges allow The Tank Museum (a registered charity) to maintain a service which fulfils the research needs of users and allows for the continued care and conservation of the Archive & Supporting Collection.

A member of the Archive team speaks to two visitors (left of the image) during a Archive & Library visit. An out of focus army jacket on a mannequin features in the center of the image.

Visits are by appointment only and subject to a charge of £15 per half day. Other charges may apply (reproduction, photocopying, etc), including a consultancy fee if your visit is for commercial purposes.

Please contact the Archive Team to arrange a visit.

You are welcome to bring pencil and paper or a laptop into our reading room and we provide lockers for bags, food and drink.

If you would like to take photographs for personal use, a camera licence is available for £10 per visit.

Charges allow The Tank Museum (a registered charity) to maintain a service which fulfils the research needs of users and allows for the continued care and conservation of the Archive & Supporting Collection.

Many items in The Tank Museum’s Collections have been generously donated by members of the public.

If you would like to discuss donating material to The Tank Museum, please contact the Collections Team at archive@tankmuseum.org and provide as much information as you can (including images if possible) about the item(s) themselves, their history and how you acquired them. After assessing the item(s) in question, our Collections Team will contact you in due course.

We respectfully ask that you do not post items to the Museum or bring items to the Museum before discussing your kind offer with a member of the Collections Team.

The Tank Museum is fortunate in receiving a large number of donation offers each year. Whilst all such offers are gratefully received, unfortunately, we are unable to accept every item and loans are only considered in exceptional circumstances.

Please note that we cannot guarantee that any item donated will be displayed, but all items in our collections are available to the public for viewing, research and educational purposes by appointment if their condition permits it.

The Supporting Collection is currently being upgraded to become more environmentally sustainable, with support from the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Wolfson Foundation. Find out more HERE.

Archive & Supporting Collection Enquiry Form

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