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King's Own Royal Regiment Museum Lancaster |
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King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum 2004-2005 Report
Trustees
Staff
Overview The 75th year has been another busy year, with much achieved, but much still to do! The routine work of answering enquiries and accepting new exhibits continues, and outside of that special jobs come along which require a greater effort to do well in the time available. One such special job was the funeral of an unknown soldier of the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment who had been killed in action on the 1st July 1916. His remains had been discovered in October 2003 during the making of a BBC television programme. The museum, along with the 1st Battalion King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, was heavily involved in the organisation of the funeral which was preceded by a battlefield tour of the Somme for the soldiers of the funeral party. It certainly put into context the life, and sad death, of the unknown soldier. Over two hundred people attended the funeral in the cemetery at Serre on the Somme and media coverage was impressive with BBC radio and television covering the story. The museum continues to build up an impressive photographic record of contemporary activities of The Regiment including the laying-up of Colours in Carlisle, the King’s Own chapel centenary, as well as the training and operations of the 1st Battalion both in England and in Northern Ireland. One special request came from the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess - that the curator may photograph them on the ‘Three peaks challenge’ - up Snowden, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis within 24 hours. Of course this meant the curator doing the same as them! The challenge was a great success and over £2000 was raised for good causes. On the issue of photography the museum was successful with a bid to the National Lottery ‘Awards for All’ project and acquired a digital camera, lap top computer, printer and other associated items. This means that the museum is well into the 21st Century with technology. A full report appears elsewhere but mention must be made of the Sponsored Cycle ride from Carlisle to Arnhem, via Lancaster, North Luffenham and Normandy in September 2004. The ride which involved five soldiers from the 1st Battalion and the museum curator, took eleven days to cover 1020 miles, and raised an impressive £5063.76 which went to three charities: Army Benevolent Fund, Macmillan Cancer Relief and the King’s Own Museum. Trustees The Trustees met in November and reviewed the work of the museum. The Curator tabled a Collections Report which was accepted by the Trustees. There remains some outstanding work but this will hopefully be finished within the next twelve months. Some recent acquisitions were also displayed to the Trustees. Collections Management As directed by the Trustees in November 2003 work began on an audit of the collections. This continued the work of computerisation of records and resulted in the first report being presented to trustees concerning collection management issues. This work also involved the registration of previously unregistered items. This work continues, but the end is in sight, and hopefully will be completed by 2006. Sadly work on the transcription of the British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal rolls held at The National Archives has not progressed as rapidly as hoped due to a reduced number of visits to London. The project is over half way - but still will take many days to complete. It is a priority, but this has to be balanced with time and finance available. With the closure of the Army Medal Office at Droitwich Spa and the creation of a joint MOD Medal Office there was an opportunity to visit the Droitwich site and capture some information from their records. The curator obtained unrestricted access to the records and was able to obtain copies of some important records: King’s Own Medal rolls for
The access to this information was very useful, however most of it still requires adding to our databases for ease of access. Displays on:
Finance Fundraising is always at the front of everything we do - for without the funds the museum raises we can do nothing! Through the year the trustees agreed to the opening of a new account so that the museum could accept donations and sales through a plastic card payment system. This is really useful for postal sales and overseas transactions. There is a cost involved, but hopefully income via this means will increase and offset the costs. The museum is pleased to record the support of grant giving bodies: n Grant Aid from ‘Awards for All’ Lottery Fund £2690 Donations received in response to enquiries and fundraising: n 2004-05 £3717.16 Money received from Inland Revenue under the ‘Gift Aid’ Scheme n 2004-05 £2084.20 (Covering the sum claimed for 2003-4 and 2004-05 & Cycle Ride) Sponsored Cycle Ride to Arnhem: n MacMillan Cancer Relief £1687.92 n Army Benevolent Fund £1687.92 n King’s Own Museum £1687.92
Publications Books Published
Information Sheets published:
Work has continued on the re-publication of the First World War History of the 1st/5th Battalion and is expected to be completed during 2005. Enquiries As ever the volume of enquiries continues to grow, and this year they topped 1503 - a new record for a twelve month period. An increased interest in family history is reflected (and in part no doubt created) by television programmes. One such screened on BBC TV was the ‘Back to my roots’ series. Here a famous person would search their family history - or rather researchers would do that job for them and they would then front the programme. One such programme featured Ian Hislop of ‘Private Eye’ and ‘Have I Got News For You?’ fame - which involved tracing his grandfather who was with the 2nd Battalion King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment in the South Africa Campaign. We actually have his grandfather’s medals which were donated a number of years ago. Talks
Work with outside bodies
LMHG VE Day 2005 - Provision of Education Packs and other work. Exhibitions
The Curator is a personal member of the following organisations:
The Museum is a member of:
Acquisitions A number of items do need highlighting this year. A very kind gentleman, with no connection to the Regiment, brought to our attention the planned sale by auction in Truro or a King’s Own recruiting poster from 1800. He then successfully bid on our behalf and the item has since been framed and will go on display in the very near future. The museum came across the Lewis Gun in a gun dealers lists and we snapped it up - it’s one of the few weapons that we lack in the collection - with no space to display the weapon at present it has been on loan to the 1st Battalion and is in a case in Battalion Headquarters at North Luffenham. We are now on the look out for a mortar barrel - amongst other things - and hopefully something will come along before too long.
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Shooting spoon circa 1958-60, awarded to donor. Gift of Mr Shuttleworth,
Canada. Acknowledgements
It is not possible to record the names of everyone who has helped and supported the museum. There are simply too many! The staff and trustees are very grateful for the continued support of many friends, donors and volunteers who have assisted the work of the museum in some way. This help is much appreciated.
The help, encouragement and assistance received from all ranks of the 1st Battalion King’s Own Royal Border Regiment and their interest in the history and traditions of the Regiment is probably unequalled across the British army. Sponsored Cycle Ride to Arnhem The plan to cycle to Arnhem came together over a weekend in July at Aldergrove in Northern Ireland. It was one of those crackpot ideas which took some organising but all came together and ended up being a fantastic success. The fund closed at the end of the year having raised £5060 for the three charities - The Army Benevolent Fund, Macmillan Cancer Relief and The King’s Own Museum. Launched from Carlisle Castle by the Mayor of Carlisle the ride proceeded to Arnhem - a distance of 1020 miles via Kendal and Lancaster. We had three great civic departures from the Regimental area - and then a great regimental send off from St. George’s Barracks. The weather was kind for the early stages, but as we headed further south we faced rain and increasing wind. There was enough of a head wind to know about it! After a somewhat choppy channel crossing - we now had the wind on our backs and that certainly made our longest day of 120 miles fly by! We arrived in Le Harve on the 60th Anniversary of the day that the Germans had been defeated in the Port. 107th Regiment RAC (The King’s Own) had been part of that action, and we were welcomed in Le Harve Town Hall for refreshments - however I’m not sure the French knew who we were - we spoke little French but had bicycles and that was probably good enough for them! From Le Harve we headed to the Somme, delayed only by Sergeant Szymanski’s growing number of punctures. The money you save on not having good quality rim tape you lose on innertubes - and it was Belgium before he was sorted! We took our time around the Somme and called in on a number of cemeteries, ending up at Serre with a visit to the grave of the unknown soldier who the Regiment had buried in April. Pat and David Shackleton, from Staveley, who live near Albert during the summer months kindly turned out to support us and provided a substantial lunch - much appreciated and nice to see some Friends from home. With the Somme behind us we were quickly through Belgium and into Holland following the route 30th Corps took in 1944. A great sense of achievement was felt when we arrived at Nijmegan. Sadly a wrong turn in busy traffic put us wrong, but we caught up with a coach load of veterans from Nottingham and the surprised driver put us right! We found the Bridge at Nijmegan and crossed it just as a fly past was taking place. After a brief stop with the support vehicle we pressed ahead to Arnhem. Arnhem was quickly reached and we quietly arrived on the famous bridge- without much fuss. None of the veterans or Dutch people knew how far we had come or what we had achieved - but we all did - and the sense of victory of arriving was balanced with a sense of relief at actually getting their in one piece! On the Saturday we cycled down to Oosterbeek and took part in the Glider Pilot Association’s memorial service. It was good to meet some Friends who we had met in July 2003 at the 60th Anniversary of the Sicily Landings. With the cycles left behind we attended the main service of commemoration on the Sunday and chatted with the many of the veterans of the campaign. One such veteran, Harry from Wigan, who remembered his friends who did not return had been too short to join the army before the war but joined the Royal Army Service Corps in 1940. We had a few drinks with him and then he headed off to the Air Despatchers Memorial for their commemorative service in the afternoon. Harry was just one of the many who played their part and it’s the likes of Harry who should inspire us all. A big thank you for the great support from all the sponsors of the ride, and all those who made it possible. Credit to the riders Lance Corporal Glen Riding, Lance Corporal Steven Dockerty, Sergeant Darren Szymanski, Colour Sergeant John Foster and the support Corporal Lee Kirkbride and Private Steve McQueen. And, of course, not forgetting our two extra riders from Carlisle to Lancaster - Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Dennis and Regimental Sergeant Major WO1 Max Davison - who gave up the pleasures of a staff car - for a ride from the top to the bottom of the Regimental Area. Well done to everyone, and thank you! Somme Funeral In October 2003 the museum had been informed of the discovery of the remains of a soldier of the 1st Battalion King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment who had died on 1st July 1916. Discovered during the making of a BBC TV programme the identity of the regiment was established from his brass shoulder titles. This allowed a proper burial to be given, and a funeral was organised for April. Somme Company’s Sergeant Major, John Wilson, and a party from the 1st Battalion officiated and more than 200 people attended the service in the cemetery at Serre in France. It was a more emotional event that I had expected it to be. The previous day had been taken up with a battlefield tour of the area, and an appreciation of the action in which the 1st Battalion took part in July 1916. Both BBC local television and radio covered the story and on the return from France an exhibition has been mounted in the museum. This includes certain items recovered from the body - such as the brass shoulder titles, the tunic buttons, pocket knife and a few of the ordinary and everyday items a soldier would have in his pockets. The leather wallet and a handful of coins - have a value now far beyond their monetary worth in 1916.
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