In the leafy Dorset village of Bovington, known for its famous tank museum, a battle has been quietly bubbling away somewhat dissimilar to the kind of fights tank commanders of old would have been used to.

The Tank Museum, which has the biggest collection of armoured vehicles in the world and is internationally revered, recently recovered old manuals, diagrams and documents from its archive to instruct how to repair Soviet-era tanks currently used in Ukraine.

So it was somewhat of a surprise that having joined in the fight against Vladimir Putin last year The Tank Museum would find itself in another type of war, this time with social media giant Meta.

The museum, which is also an educational charity, claimed its income stream from Facebook and Instagram was suddenly halted last June after it was told that its published content – which includes images of both modern and older tank models – “goes against our partner monetisation policies”.

Any social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram that have high levels of views and engagement can qualify for payment from the parent company Meta.

The Tank Museum – which has 210,000 followers on Instagram and has posted over 5,600 times – assumed the numerous failed attempts to appeal the decision were because of an algorithm.

With a global reach into the millions, the museum decided to apply for its content to be monetised, however it was cut off after just one month.