Museum story
The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers were formed during the Second World War to bring much of the Army’s repair, recovery, and technical support work into one corps. The museum follows that story from 1942 through the Cold War and into contemporary operations.
Its subject is the skilled work behind combat power: recovering damaged vehicles, repairing weapons and electronics, maintaining aviation equipment, and returning complex systems to service. That technical perspective gives familiar Army vehicles a very different historical context.
Collection character
The museum describes its fleet of specialist repair and recovery vehicles as a defining part of the collection. These machines are supported by precision tools, communications equipment, weapons systems, trade-test pieces, personal objects, medals, and material connected with Corps life.
A Sherman Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle is among the museum’s highlighted objects. The museum identifies it as a rare vehicle used during the Allied invasion of Normandy and publishes the object number 1984.2746, allowing an exact reciprocal link to the Armor Archive’s M4 Sherman family.
Sources: 2
What to expect
The modern museum at Lyneham combines galleries about Corps history with technical displays and large equipment. It is particularly useful for understanding how armored formations were sustained after breakdown, battle damage, bogging, or mechanical failure.
Not every vehicle in the reserve collection is necessarily on daily display. Visitors interested in a specific recovery vehicle should check current exhibitions and event information, then confirm opening times and travel arrangements through the official visitor pages.
What the museum holds
Selected from the institution’s public collection and exhibition pages. This is a source-based guide, not a claim that every stored or displayed object is listed here.
Repair and recovery vehicles6 entries
- Sherman Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle (BARV)
- Land Rover Series 1 with Cuthbertson tracks
- FNAS 24 air-transportable vehicle (10 ER 90)
- Queen Mother’s Land Rover Series 2A (30 XC 16)
- Specialised repair vehicles
- Recovery vehicles maintained in working order
Technical equipment5 entries
- Precision instrument-repair tools
- Radio systems
- Weapons systems
- Trade-test pieces
- Army Apprentice College material
Personal and corps history6 entries
- Prisoner-of-war coconut-fibre toothbrush
- Improvised pistol from the Mau Mau Uprising
- REME medals
- Mess life
- Sport and ceremony
- Operational mementos
Armor Archive cross-links
These links connect museum holdings to existing Armor Archive vehicle profiles. They are not the museum’s complete inventory; use the collection guide above for broader holdings context.
Collection focus
Repair and recovery vehicles · British Army engineering · REME history · Technical equipment · Operational maintenance.
Armor Archive vehicle cross-links
These source-backed links appear reciprocally on Armor Archive vehicle profiles. A museum can hold many more vehicles than the Archive currently has profile-to-museum links for.
The museum identifies object 1984.2746 as a rare Sherman BARV used during the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944.
Evidence source ARM-MUS-SRC-000154 ↗Sources
- REME Museum, Official Website Official museum source
https://www.rememuseum.org.uk/ - REME Museum, Object Collection Official collection catalog
https://www.rememuseum.org.uk/objects - REME Museum, Getting Here Official museum source
https://www.rememuseum.org.uk/getting-here