The grandchildren of Field Marshal Montgomery visited the Imperial War Museum this month to lend support to the ongoing restoration work the museum is carrying out on the World War Two general’s caravans.
Montgomery used the three caravans to conduct his campaign in north-west Europe following the D-Day landings in 1944. One of the three vans was for sleeping in, one was his office, and one was a map room.
Having the caravans allowed him to be closer to the front line, sometimes only a few miles away, rather than being back at main headquarters.
The caravans were left to the museum as part of Montgomery’s will after he died in 1976.
The museum’s Duxford branch, where they are currently in open storage, is hoping to restore them and display them as star objects with their own viewing platform in a brand new Second World War exhibition planned to open later this decade.
The museum is currently raising funds to bring this about, but is confident that it can do so.
Montgomery’s grandson Henry, who visited the museum with his sister Arabella Stuart-Smith, said they both remembered playing with the caravans in a large shed in Montgomery’s garden during family visits in the 1960s.
He said revisiting them was “a special opportunity to evoke such wonderful childhood memories”.
In other industry news, it was recently announced that Aberdeen-based dealer Dyce Caravans is to close down. The move, which follows over half a century of business, has been blamed on a combination of factors.
For those of you who are heading off on tour soon, too, don’t miss our 14 tips to help you take the exertion out of caravanning.
Images: The Imperial War Museum
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