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King's Own Royal Regiment Museum Lancaster |
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REGIMENTAL HISTORY |
King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum 2008-2009 Report Trustees
Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Warren
(Chairman) Staff Peter Donnelly BA AMA - Curator Overview On the eve of the museum’s 80th Anniversary this report records another twelve months of busy activity in and around the King’s Own Museum. More than 44,000 visitors passed through the doors, a further 1,600 made use of our enquiry service and more than 50,000 visited our website. A good record of achievement. Whilst we are always aware of the ‘credit crunch’ which suddenly became a recession we are pleased to report that trading income of the museum (both in the museum shop and by postal sales) is up and donations remain at a good level. We could always do with more, and one major area of charity giving, legacies, is something we have a poor record with. The museum is doing more (with probably less) than it has ever done before, long may the interest in the history of the regiment and the work of the museum continue! Trustees The annual meeting of trustees was held in November and a report on the museum’s activities was given by the Curator. The Chairman gave a report on the Army Museum’s Internal Audit of December 2007. The King’s Own Museum was visited, as were the Tank Museum, The Royal Artillery Museum and the Royal Engineers Museum. Colonel Warren stated: “I saw this invitation as a ‘feather in our cap’ and that the King’s Own Museum had sufficiently high profile at Army Heritage Branch to be asked and recognised. I also saw the opportunity to enhance that profile. As an unfunded establishment we had nothing to lose.” The outcome of the audit include:
It was a worthwhile exercise for the King’s Own Museum. Collections Management The curator continues to monitor and take care of the collections, whether they are held in store or on display. A regular programme of inspection takes place to ensure everything is well cared for. New acquisitions are all ‘accessioned’ and documented before being stored or used in displays. Part of this process involves checking dealers and auction catalogues, as well as internet auctions sites, to ensure that the museum is aware of anything of interest. In many ways we have been fortunate that nothing of great cost has appeared in this year. Whilst the economic downturn is reflected in certain parts of society it does not appear to have hit militaria! Research Work continues on both the museum’s own collection, and those held elsewhere, on improving documentation of the photographic collection and where possible matching dates, locations and even names to photographs. This takes considerable time and has to compete with more pressing demands. A couple of photograph albums have been targeted for action, which includes their full documentation, digitisation of all the images and eventually uploading to the website. Digital copies of various records held at the National Archives at Kew have been obtained, through the free trial period of the ‘Ancestry’ Website. Many of these records relate to soldiers who served prior to and during the First World War. The King’s Own museum pays a small annual fee to the Army Museums Ogilby Trust to access certain National Archive records over the internet without further charge. This scheme works very well and has been of great value to the museum. No progress was made on the project to digitise the Second World War diaries of the King’s Own at the National Archives in this present year which has been a disappointment. This is sadly due to limited resources, mainly time. Finance The museum is pleased to record the support of grant giving bodies:
Donations received in
response to enquiries and other fundraising Money received from
Inland Revenue under the ‘Gift Aid’ Scheme Interest received on
accounts A full statement of accounts for the year will be presented at the Trustees Meeting, November 2009. No legacies have been received in this financial year. Publications The museum did not publish any books or booklets this year. Work on editing the diaries and letters of Private William Hodgson of the 2nd/5th Battalion, King’s Own in the First World War is on-going and hopefully will be published when time permits. Working with G H Smith & Sons of Easingwold, seven of the museum’s First World War trench maps have been digitally copied to be reproduced at 7/10th scale. This project is on-going as the year draws to a close and is something which is eagerly awaited. The answering of one research enquiry may in fact result in that knowledge subsequently being spread to thousands of other interested parties. That is the case with the following publications that the museum has assisted with during the year:
In addition to assisting with publications the museum provided advice and assistance with the following exhibitions:
The Regimental Curator frequently contributes articles for inclusion in the Nostalgia pages of the Lancaster Guardian. This year these included:
The range of information sheets made available on the history of the King’s Own, within the gallery, has been supplemented with a number of publications supplied by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The full-colour booklets and information sheets cover the work of the Commission as well as the history of the major campaigns of two World Wars. Digitisation Project A number of instruction manuals, as listed below, have been digitally copied and are available from the museum on cd-rom. These have proved less popular than the War Diaries and have generally been copied in response to a specific request but are then made available for others.
War Diaries – Digitisation Project Had it been realised earlier just how popular the war diaries on cd-rom would prove to be the museum would have digitised them years ago! 103 have been sold in 2008/09, the full breakdown, by battalion is shown in the table. Each cd-rom sells for £12 and the majority are sold by post, from our website or as a follow-up to an answered enquiry.
Overall total sold 202 copies. Exhibitions To mark the 90th Anniversary of the Armistice a special exhibition of portraits of First World War King’s Own soldiers was created on the mezzanine floor. The portraits, many from postcard sized originals, were displayed alongside various exhibits or archives relating to the soldiers featured. This marked the first public exhibition of some of the images, most of which are to named soldiers, but one or two are sadly unknown. Coinciding with the talk on the diary and letters of Private William Hodgson of the 2nd/5th King’s Own a number of his letters and diaries was put on display. Items included the pencil sketch of his photographic portrait which he mentions doing in his diary. Hodgson, who served with the 2nd/5th Battalion, was killed in action on 24th May 1917 only a couple of months after arriving on the Western Front. His diaries and letters are very informative about an ordinary soldier’s training and active service. Website The museum’s website remains an important part of ‘what we do’ and more people visit the website than visit the museum in person. The website continues to grow and there are frequent additions to it’s content including:
As time and resources permit the website will continue to be expanded. From it’s launch in August 2005 to the end of March 2009 there have been 115,551 visitors to the site. Web Statistics: www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com
Enquiries With 1630 recorded in the twelve months covered by this report this has been the busiest year ever for enquiries. The 90th Anniversary of the Armistice was marked by a sudden peak in enquiries in November and as a result more were answered in that month than during a six months period in 1997! How times change! The public are certainly more demanding than ever, their interest having been encouraged by television family history programmes such as ‘Who Do You Think You Are? A spin-off from the TV programme was the ‘Who Do You Think You Are? Live’ at the National History Show – held at Olympia in February 2009. The King’s Own Museum was represented at the ‘Military Memorabilia Checkpoint’ organised by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust which requested volunteers to assist with the identification of objects, archives and photographs as well as providing information on family and military history. More than thirty museums were represented at various times on the ten enquiry desks and more than one thousand enquiries were received over the three days from the 12000 people who visited the Show. The Curator attended all three days and made a significant contribution to dealing with those enquires. AMOT plan to organise a stand for the 2010 show from 26th to 28th February, again at Olympia. Involvement in this allows for the promotion of all Regimental Museums and hopefully encourages some visitors! Talks & Activities The curator has undertaken a number of general and subject-specific talks relating to the history of the King’s Own, the titles of which are listed below. New talks are always being developed and it is hoped that these can be presented more than once, to different audiences, as putting a new talk together is often a time consuming project.
The museum also supports, by provision of the venue, the monthly meeting/talks programme of the North Lancashire Branch of the Western Front Association. Work with outside bodies
The Curator is a personal member of the following organisations:
The Museum is a member of:
Acquisitions It has been another year with many good quality acquisitions to the museum's collection. The full list is reproduced below: Acquisitions KO2721 Cemetery Register for Pernes British Cemetery, France. Gift of Mrs Birrell, Carnforth, Lancashire. KO2722 Sports Medal, Inter Platoon Hockey to Private Parkinson, 1st King’s Own circa 1930s. Gift of Mr M Albon, Scotforth, Lancaster. KO2723 Books, ‘Isaac Rosenberg, the Making of a Great War Poet, A New Life’ by Dr. Jean Moorcroft Wilson and ‘Whitechapel at War, Isaac Rosenberg and his circle’. Purchased. KO2724 First World War memorial certificates to Private William Chorley, 1st/5th King’s Own, and his brother Corporal Thomas Postlethwaite. Gift of Mr Bacchus, Ambleside, Cumbria. KO2725 Photograph of King’s Own group at Saltash, August 1914 and prisoners of war including Private Valentine Waite. Gift or Mr George, Newport, Gwent. KO2726 Silver Fusee Hunter Pocket Watch, London, 1874 Inscribed “Presented to Sergeant Drummer J C Smith, by his brother Sergeants of the King’s Own Regiment as a mark of their esteem on his quitting the service 30th June 1882.” Purchased. KO2727 Small hunting horn used by Roger Horsfield when serving with C Company 4/5 King’s Own at Ulverston in the 1960s. Gift of Mr Roger Horsfield, Cheshire. KO2728 Postcard sent home from France by Private James Long, 1st King’s Own, Aug 1914. Gift of Mr and Mrs Ian Muchall, Louth, Lincolnshire. KO2729 Photograph of miniature portrait of Captain James Oliver of the 4th King’s Own circa 1813. Sent by email by Mr Richard Bull, London. KO2730 Photographs relating to the service and Lieutenant Colonel Gawne, 2nd King’s Own circa 1890s. Gift of Mr J F Gawne, Yeovil, Somerset. KO2731 Veteran’s Badge issued to Major Daniel Parsonage, formerly 1st Battalion, King’s Own Royal Border Regiment. Gift of Major Parsonage, Lancaster. KO2732 Photograph of the grave of Private George Ernest Frost, number 40878, 8th King’s Own, died of wounds on 2 Oct 1918, buried in St. Marie Cemetery, Le Havre Cemetery, France. Gift of Mr Physick, Lancaster. KO2733 Programme for Parade in Trieste, May 1946 and Christmas Card from the Royal Naval Base, Trieste, Christmas 1947. Gift of Mrs Mosey, Lancaster. KO2734 Photograph of senior non-commissioned officers of the 1st/4th King’s Own, May 1918. Gift of Mr Farrow, Belgium. KO2735 Paperwork relating to Private John Bates, of the 2nd/5th King’s Own. Gift of Mrs Patrica Mee, Dundee. KO2736 Photograph of King’s Own Zulu War Memorial. Gift of Colonel John de Cordova, Bath. KO2737 ‘Lancaster’ shoulder title, discovered by donor in Jan 2001 at Spion Kop in South Africa. Gift of Mr Robinson, Salisbury. KO2738 The King’s Own Ibalur Parish Magazine Volume One, Jun 1946. 7th King’s Own in India, personal documents and Battalion Orders from the period. Gift of Mr James Parkinson, Garstang. KO2739 Battle dress blouse and trousers worn by Sergeant John Annett, 1st King’s Own in 1945/6, photographs, letters, personnel documents etc. Gift of Colonel John Annett, London (son). KO2740 Sports Medal, Tug of War 225 Infantry Brigade Sports, 3 Oct 1941, 10th Battalion King’s Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster. Gift of Mr Tony Dixon, Carnforth. KO2741 Series of photographs relating to the service of Private Ted Rathbone with the 8th and 1st King’s Own in Malta, Palestine and Italy 1942-45. Purchased. KO2742 Photographs of King’s Own graves in Normandy, France; Cyprus; Western Front etc. Taken by Peter Donnelly, Curator, King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum. KO2743 Digital copies of original glass negatives of Kings’ Own subjects from the Essenhigh-Corke Collection of negatives, Sevenoaks. Gift of The Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone, Kent. KO2744 Material relating to Major Robert Hall Welch, King’s Own and his father Captain Alfred Bassett Welch. Copied from material lent by Colonel Andrew Whitton, Lancaster. KO2745 Photographs of King’s Own soldiers and Corporal Fred Pedder, and Private Harold Pedder of the 1st/5th King’s Own, World War One. Gift of Mr and Mrs Keith Jenkinson, Ormskirk, Lancashire. KO2746 Photographs of King’s Own Graves, World War One and World War Two, Western Front/Northern France. Photographed by Peter Donnelly, Museum Curator. KO2747 Scrap book compiled by Brigadier General Faunce, one of his daughters married Major (later Brigadier General) G L Hibbert CMG, DSO of the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. Gift of Mr Joe Hodgson, Preston. KO2748 Book: Remembering Osnabruck, The British Garrison 1945-2009 by Sarah Elsom. Gift of the Garrison Commander. KO2749 Photograph of silver drinking cup, Lieutenant M Dane, 4th King’s Own, April 1812. Digital image supplied by Mr Milligan, New Zealand. KO2750 Manuscript copies of Letters from the Trenches 1915-1919 Rev Pat Leonard DSO. Padre to the 8th King’s Own. Gift of Mr John Leonard, Winchester. KO2751 Digital copy of the Boer War diary of Greenwood Halliwell, of the King’s Own. Gift of Mr A Jones, Colywn Bay. KO2752 King’s Own Graves in Gauhati War Cemetery, India. Gift of Major E J Foxall, MBE, Trimingham, Norfolk. KO2753 Transcript of the Court Martial of Captain James Symington Shortt, 4th King’s Own Regiment of Foot., January 1847. Gift of Mr Mike Hedges, Waterlooville, Hampshire. KO2754 Transcribed letters of Captain Arthur H Morris of the 55th West Lancashire Division (Royal Army Medical Corps) 1918-1920. Gift of Mr John Morris, Den Haag, The Netherlands. KO2755 Photographs relating to Private Peter Braithwaite, 1st King’s Own, 1953-56 including Korea. Copied from originals lent by Mr Braithwaite, Whitehaven. KO2756 Various regimental photographs, circa 1910-1930 copied from borrowed album. KO2757 Photograph of 2nd Lieutenant Henson of the King’s Own. Copied from original image held by family. KO2758 Didcot’s Heroes Remembered by Richard Polley and Clare Wadley. Gift of the authors. KO2759 Letter and list of names from the Colonel Commanding Bowerham Barracks (Colonel A F Kidston), Lancaster, dated 10 Jan 1895 to the Borough Surveyor, Lancaster regarding employment for men who have left the army or on the Army Reserve. Gift of Mr Brian Abrahams, Highway Manager, Lancashire County Council, Caton, Lancaster. KO2760 Silver cigarette case with ‘RPP’ inscribed on the cover, 2nd Lieutenant Reginald Percy Poole of the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. Copies of the Balkan News. 2nd Lieutenant Poole trained with the Gloucestershire Regiment and was commissioned into the 10th Battalion of the King’s Own and served with the regiment in Salonika. Gift of Mr Michael Poole (deceased) Bristol, via Mrs J Hart, Bristol. KO2761 Copies of material relating to Private George Mason, of 2nd/5th King’s Own, First World War. From Originals lent to be copied by Mrs Churchill, Lancaster. KO2762 Photograph of Captain Harold Chapman, 2nd/5th King’s Own. Gift of Mr Chris Chapman, via email. KO2763 Watercolour drawings of an officer of the 4th King’s Own circa 1746 and Officer of the Royal Lancashire Militia by R T T Evans. Purchased. KO2764 Material relating to Sergeant Westwood, King’s Own, World War One. Gift of Mr Westwood. KO2765 Menu for the farewell dinner of the 4th County of Lancaster Battalion Home Guard. Two shoulder flashes of the 4th Anti-Aircraft Division. Gift of Mr Bill Bury. KO2766 Photograph of Private Frederick Baker, number 1840, later 200171 of the 1st/4th King’s Own, circa 1914. Gift of Mr Andrew Brooks, Cowan Bridge, Carnforth. KO2767 Photograph of Number 8 Platoon of the 11th Battalion, King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment circa 1915/16. Gift of Mr Andrew Milne, Lytham. KO2768 Collection of photographs of German soldiers, First World War. Gift of Mr Carne, Farleton, near Lancaster. Photos relate to donor’s wife’s father who served as an officer in the German army in the First World War. KO2769 Programme and photograph of the ceremonial hand over of the RAF Stations in Iraq, including Habbaniya, Shaibah, and Basrah, May 1955. Gift of Mrs G H Singleton, Knott End on Sea, Lancashire. KO2770 Military Respirator dated 1941. Gift of Mrs Edmondson, Lancaster. KO2771 Queen’s South Africa Medal, 1914 Star, War and Victory medals to Private John Corless, number 6693, 1st King’s Own, letters and photographs. Also items relating to William Corless, and various newspaper cuttings. Gift of Mrs Jean Haywood, Glasson Dock, Lancashire. KO2772 Shooting spoons won by Sergeant J Lintin, 1st King’s Own and programme of sports, April 1916. Gift of Mr W Batty, Nether Kellet, Lancashire. KO2773 ‘Hewitson VC Memorial Shield’ of the North Lancashire Group of the Royal British Legion. Awarded to the branch most successful with fundraising and other activities. Gift of the North Lancashire Group of the Royal British Legion. KO2774 British War and Allied Victory medal to Private Herbert Edward Adkins, 8th and 1st/5th King’s Own, Memorial Plaque and original wooden cross from grave in Belgrade Cemetery, near Namur, Belgium. Gift of Mrs Allum, daughter, Woodford Green, Essex. Acknowledgements The trustees and curator would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people who have helped and supported the museum. There are many hundreds, for everyone who has donated financial, purchased something in the shop or donated objects for the collection have all made a valuable contribution. Special mention must be made of volunteers Howard Martin, Gaynor Greenwood, Elspeth Griffiths and Pat and David Shakleton who are working on various projects in support of the museum. Valued advice was received from Charlotte Walton on the museum’s “Facebook” page, a social networking internet site and Mr Rodney Ward, inspector of the museum’s accounts. The assistance from Sergeant Steve Bowman and Major Phil McNeil, Quartermaster, 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, in the transportation of a military bicycle for exhibition is very much appreciated. As indeed is the help of Colin Gardner and Pete Read of The Bike Store, Lancaster, who got the bicycle ‘up and running’ for the display! Financial donations are always vital to the continued operation of the museum but ‘help in kind’ is just as vital. The kind assistance, with the provision of accommodation to the curator on his London visits, is acknowledged from Martin Evans and Jackie Britton. Many an expensive hotel bill has been avoided through their kindness, indeed the curator would have been unable to assist with the manning of the AMOT ‘Military Memorabilia Checkpoint’ without their help. The support of Army Heritage Branch is much appreciated with the supply of a laptop computer, printer and laser projector. Thanks is also extended to Fergus Read, Steve McQueen, WO2 Neil Barnett, WO2 Darren Szymanski, Captain Simon Walton and Captain Max Davison for their assistance and support through the year.
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