DORSET’S military museum has fired the pistol on its programme of events to mark the 100th anniversary of the first time tanks were used on the battlefield.

Bovington Tank Museum, near Wool, hosted a conference earlier this week in conjunction with Wargaming, the developers of multiplayer online game World of Tanks.

Conference guests were given a tour of the museum’s collection and were able to step inside one of the vintage vehicles.

The museum holds the UK’s national collection of tanks and has been visited by the Queen, actors Brad Pitt and Nigel Havers and TV presenter James May.

Pitt’s visit to the museum was prompted by the use of the iconic Tiger 131 tank in his movie Fury.

Museum director Richard Smith told the conference that “society must be able to understand war” in order to make wise decisions in the future.

Mr Smith shone a spotlight on some of the more impressive items in the museum’s archive, including what is believed to be the first ever correspondence between tank crews and other members of the armed forces,

The event also marked the fifth year of the museum’s collaboration with Wargaming David Willey, the museum’s curator, described working with the company as “a marriage made in heaven”.

He said: There is a really good symbiotic relationship between us because they are bringing us a different audience and an online audience.

“The collaboration works for us and it’s bringing people from all over the world.”

Mr Willey spoke at the conference about the length design and development process that led the first tanks to take to the battlefield during the closing stages of the Battle of the Somme in September 1916.

Wargaming also works in conjunction with the museum on the annual Tankfest event, which drew nearly 20,000 people to the museum across two days last summer.

Tracy Spaight, director of special projects at the company, said: “We are not a typical video game company.

“We believe in giving back and we are proud to work with Bovington.”

The museum is to host a series of talks to mark the centenary, culminating in a commemorative Tank 100 events on September 17.

For more information, visit tank100.org