This May half term, The Tank Museum is inviting its guests to get behind the scientific genius of Leonardo Da Vinci, a man whose sketchbooks reveal a man who was thinking far ahead of his time…

Simon Skelling, Interpretation Officer said; "500 years ago, Leonardo Da Vinci made an intriguing sketch of a large `armoured vehicle` bristling with cannon. It's exactly what we would today classify as a tank. But it would be 400 years before his innovation became a reality, and tanks were used for the first time by the British during the battle of The Somme in 1916."

This design, like his sketches of parachutes and helicopters, never made it beyond the drawing board. Whilst he had conceived an intricate system to make his invention mobile, it would have proved too heavy and cumbersome for practical use.

"Leonardo didn't have the benefit of the internal combustion engine," said Simon. "He intended to use a system very much like the mechanism on a push bike, only on a much larger scale, with men inside turning the "pedals" by hand to make the tank move."

Guns, spears and crossbows could be used to fight through slits in the sides of the vehicle and from the cupola on top.
"Despite the obvious difference in materials, Leonardo's tank is similar in may ways to that tanks of today. The designers have taken firepower, manoeuvrability, and protection of the crew into account and these are they key elements that define armoured warfare."

The Museum will be displaying a working scale model of Leonardo Da Vinci's design during May half term, and this will be supported by science workshops by guest presenter Laurie Barbour (28th, 29th, 31st of May and on the 1st June), who will be assisting families to come up with Da Vinci inspired innovations of their own.

There will also be the usual compliment of explosive action displays, with Tanks In Action on Sunday 28th May and Thursday 1st June at 12.00pm, and Armour In Motion on Monday 29th and Wednesday 31st of May at 2.00pm.