Tank Nuts

I chat with Ben Simmons former Officer in the Royal Tank Regiment now Managing Director of Bare Arms - Military Support to Film & TV, a company of military personnel who work in the theatrical and entertainment industries. They have supplied military advisers, personnel, vehicles and training to some of the biggest shows and most of the terrestrial channels, streaming services and more recently computer games companies.

We discuss memories of Training, life in a Tank Crew, deployment to Afghanistan, the future of Film and TV and a whole lot more. 

My guest is the Curator of one of the largest Tank Museums in the World, public face, author and font of historical knowledge Mr David Willey. 

We chat about life before the museum, elegant ladies in the attic, the influence of Rudyard Kipling in the creation of the Museum, wants and wishes for the collection, how to move the 80 ton TOG II and a whole lot more.... Fascinating tales of history and life experiences. 

My guest served with the US Air Force Special Operations as a Helicopter Door Gunner, opened his own gun shop, has had numerous TV appearances and is currently the gunsmith for the incredible Texas location (Drive Tanks.com) where not only can you drive a variety of historical Vehicles you can actually live fire them.

We chat about his life, passion for small arms and the hardest Tank to work on..........

I welcome the larger than life star of the hit TV Series “Combat Dealers” Mr Bruce Crompton to Tank Nuts the podcast.

Bruce Crompton is an ex-paratrooper and one of the world’s biggest collectors of 20th century military equipment, vehicles and memorabilia which he buys, restores and sells with the help of his highly specialist team. He is proper cockney, born and bred in East London, who has a shrewd eye for a good deal.

Over the years, Bruce has supplied his specialist vehicles for film projects such as Saving Private Ryan, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, and more recently, the new Brad Pitt movie, Fury. Bruce regularly spent time on set dining with directors and mingling with the leading cast, such as Tom Hanks, Shia LaBeouf, Brad Pitt, Steven Spielberg and David Ayers, many of who share in interest in military history and the work Bruce and his boys do. This is a prime example of the wide spread interest this kind of subject matter has.

We chat about his early life and the growing of his passion for Military history from an early age, the restoration of the incredible Panther Tank, the past and future of Combat Dealers and a whole lot more.

All told with incredible wit and humour that makes this podcast a must listen.

Lieutenant Sarah Batts is the first female Combat Officer and Tank commander in British History. The historic move comes after a long-standing ban on women serving on the front-line was lifted in July 2018. Hear her path from training to command of the formidable Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank.

Coming soon to Tank Nuts -Lieutenant Sarah Batts is the first female Combat Officer and Tank commander in British History. The historic move comes after a long-standing ban on women serving on the front-line was lifted in July 2018. Hear her path from training to command of the formidable Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank. 

Possessing a  degree in history Richard spent 11 years working for the global shipping giant P&O but gave up his career to bring his expertise to the Tank Museum in Bovington (UK) which houses the worlds finest collection of Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles. Rewarded for the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s 2018 birthday honours list Richard shares the ups and downs of managing this vast collection including arguably the Worlds most famous Tank and what the future looks like for this "must visit" destination for any historical fan.  

In this episode we meet the Commanding Officer of the Royal Tank Regiment the oldest Tank Unit in the world. Tanks were first used during the Battle of the Somme, and the creation of the Royal Tank Regiment soon followed. The Regiments Battle Honours are vast and they have also deployed on all major conflicts since the end of World War II, gaining a reputation for fearlessness and professionalism.

 Lt Col Howard discuses the role of the Commanding Officer, the road to command,the future of Armoured Warfare and life serving on the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank.  

The second episode of our podcast is already here! In this new show, Richard Cutland welcomes Craig Moore to the Tank Nuts club. Also known as the "Tank Hunter", Craig is a retired Metropolitan Police Sergeant, who you might know for his work on the Tank Encyclopedia website.

He's also a published author, who wrote Tank Hunter: World War I, which takes a deep dive into the development of the very first tanks - one of his fields of expertise. German SPG's are another area his knowledge is vast, but as you will soon learn, Craig knows a thing or two about armoured vehicles in general !

To launch this brand new podcast we chat with the UK's most prolific stuntman Mr Jim Dowdall.

Jim has been in the entertainment business almost without a break for well over 40 years.

Starting in the Circus working for a lion trainer and as an acrobat directly from leaving school at 16 and after a spell in a variety of other jobs like motorcycle mechanic and delivering cars, Jim entered the film business as an armourer on films like ‘The Dirty Dozen’ and ‘Where Eagles Dare’. A spell in The Parachute Regiment in the early 70’s was ended by a bad jump causing vertebrae damage. After recovery and working as a walk on and also as an assistant director, Jim entered the stunt business.

Jim has worked on almost every kind of action film including 9 ‘Bonds’ ‘Superman’ ‘Star Wars’ ‘Indiana Jones’ ‘Batman’ to ‘Enemy at the Gates’ ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and a host of others.  

A straight talking action man his stories will make you laugh out loud.