The Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, has received a £1.5m donation from the Kuwaiti government in a bid to recognise the role played by the Royal Armoured Corps during the Gulf War.

Kuwait's ambassador presented the museum with the gift at the Tankfest event held on the weekend of 25-26 June, which saw a commemorative plaque unveiled in order to mark the occasion. Among the Tank Museum's collection is a Challenger 1 tank, which was one of the first to cross the Kuwaiti border from Saudi Arabia in February 1991 in the wake of Iraq's incursion into the Middle East country.

The museum will now rename its purpose-built outdoor tank arena - built as part of a £16.5m redevelopment programme completed in 2009 - as the Kuwait Arena. Tank Museum director Richard Smith said: "Our collection includes some of the world's most important tanks and these incredible artefacts are often the best record there is for some of the most significant moments in history.

"By maintaining the tanks that have played integral roles in shaping the world as we know it, we are able to preserve the legacies and stories of their servicemen for future generations."