Page 144 - Mercian Eagle 2012

The Mercian regiment Museum
(Worcestershire) by Maj (Retd) Bob Prophet
“Times they are a’changing” as the words of the song tell us and that is an apt description of our Museum this year. We have been in Dancox House for two years and, whilst a great deal needs to be sorted out, the stores are well organised and the system is running well. Although Dancox House had been in use for some time, it had never been opened officially and HRH The Earl of Wessex performed that task
in September in a small ceremony and reception.
sixties but managed only a second, never
a winner. After putting on weight, he joined the army, joining The Parachute Regiment in May 1962 aged 18. After training and completing the parachute course, he was posted to 1 PARA in Bahrain. The Battalion then moved to Cyprus over Christmas 1962 where he was involved in the last part of
the EOKA campaign. In 1967, he went
on active service again, this time to Aden,
Our Museum
Attendant of the
past eight years has
decided to hang up his
conservation tools and
retire – a sad loss to
our team. Dave Sands
was born in Polegate,
East Sussex; at the
age of 15 and being 6
stone in weight, he left
home and became an
apprentice jockey to
Towser Gosden in Lewes. He had several rides on the tracks at Kempton, Goodwood, Sandown, Lewes and Brighton, riding against all the top jockeys in the early
the last British troops to leave after marching down the runway on
to a Hercules. 1969, he deployed on his first tour in Northern Ireland.
He joined the Red Devil Freefall Team
in the early 70’s after first starting freefalling with the Machine Gun Platoon of 1 PARA when eight of the platoon broke the European night altitude
record, jumping from 26,000ft carrying full machine gun kit. He suffered a bad accident in 1972 and was laid up for a few years, leaving the regiment and the
and he was among
Our Museum Attendant of the past eight years has decided to hang up his conservation tools and retire – a sad loss to our team.
Mr Dave Sands, Museum Attendant
Army as a Sergeant in May 1978 after 16 years’ service. He joined the Post Office
in Kidderminster becoming the Manager after a few years. In 1986, he joined the HSF at Kidderminster and, when they
were disbanded, transferred to the TA –
F Company, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters. He served 14 years in the TA with various units but he always kept the
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loaned to The Grosvenor Museum, our near neighbours, for a temporary exhibition they have produced about horses in the service of man.
Highlighted sportsmen include Harold Walden who won Olympic gold in the football at the Stockholm Olympics of 1912 and Jack Hart, a brilliant sprinter. Hart competed in the Berlin Olympic stadium
in 1946 aged 41. Later that year he ran a superb time of 10.6 seconds. This was the same time as he recorded in 1936 and may be some kind of veteran’s record.
It is not just the winning but the taking part which is important. One memorable quote taken from the “Oak Tree” concerning the cricket team of 1959 best expresses these sentiments...
“It is no more important to be able to keep a straight bat than to lift a pint of ale with a bent right elbow. In this we have kept pace with, if not bettered the best”...
Visitors to the exhibition can also learn about tug of war, lemon slicing and pushball in addition to the more usual sporting pursuits.
The Pearson Trophy
To complement the exhibition, we have borrowed the legendary Pearson Trophy from the 1st Battalion; this trophy is the prize for the best performing Company of the 1st Battalion in the weekly cross country run. For something which seemed to be
so hated whilst serving, it is spoken of with
fondness by most veterans of the 22nd today: even the Curator smiles when he hears it mentioned! It will be returned in time for it to be competed for in 2013 when 1 MERCIAN returns from Op HERRICK.
We have also started a project to bring our IT displays into the 21st Century, spurred on by the fact that most of the original IT systems decided to start conking out on us, usually at the most inconvenient times, such as the day of a school visit or when a large party of visitors was expected. Much of the information cannot be transferred to the new
he adds – “and Royals”) and Grace. Ken
is a new cheerful face on the front desk every Tuesday and so as not to confuse him with Ken Baker who works Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, is called “Tuesday Ken”, Grace meanwhile works very hard in the back office doing general administrative jobs and some of the digitisation of records; she is a dab hand at photography, we’ve found. Sadly though we had to say goodbye to our longstanding volunteer Bob Wakeham, in June. He had been a front of house volunteer for 11 years
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
machinery so it is taking some time and not a little expense to get the new displays up and running, but we will get there eventually.
Volunteers are the essential element in the efficient running of all of the Mercian regiment’s museums...
and was a constant source of information and repartee. He felt that it was time he slowed down, having reached the age of 79. We wish him a long and happy “second retirement”.
On the Trustee front, Capt Christopher Naylor, a Cheshire Yeomanry-appointed Trustee, stepped
Volunteers are the
essential element in the
efficient running of all of
the Mercian Regiment’s
museums, and we
are very fortunate
in having a team of
dedicated people who come in on their chosen day, every week, and cheerfully set to their allotted or chosen tasks. We have people working on conservation, archiving, digitising of records, researching or just looking after visitors, front of house. This year we have welcomed a couple of new faces, Ken who served in The Blues (not,
down in July. Christopher’s interest and knowledge of the history of the Cheshire Yeomanry has been invaluable. We now have a new Trustee, Colonel Hilary Williams who has a distinguished record of service with the Army Cadet Force in the North West of England.