A MILITARY museum in Dorset has fired the starting 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 for international media today 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, as well as actors Brad Pitt and Nigel Havers and television presenter James May.

See our gallery above for pictures of celebrity visitors to Bovington.

Pitt’s visit to the museum was prompted by the use of the iconic Tiger 131 tank in his 2014 movie Fury, which focused on a crew in the Second World War.

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 sent 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 games 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 lengthy 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 Wargaming, said: “We are not a typical video game company.

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

Bovington Tank Museum is hosting a series of events to mark the centenary of the tank, culminating in a commemorative ‘Tank 100’ event on September 17.

For more information on the centenary, visit tank100.org.