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War and will lead into a number of First World War displays to mark the centenary.
Acquisitions
The museum collection has once again been enhanced by a number of wonderful gifts from the public. There are too many to list individually, but as we approach 2014, many have been related to the Great War. We have received several sets of medals which will in due course be displayed, although due to volume this may take a little longer than usual. In addition we were given a bugle belonging to Lt Colonel Churcher who commanded the 23rd Battalion Cheshire Regiment. It commemorates the day that the Battalion went overseas to France and lists all the officers present. Another recent acquisition, with a touching story, is that of a watch belonging to Captain Sydney Yorston. A present from his fiancé he risked life and limb to retrieve it from no man’s land. These items will help us tell the story of the Great War in the years
to come.
Home Front Discovery Day
The museum hosted our first ever Home Front Discovery Day on 31st August. The event aimed to highlight events from World War Two and included a living history re- enactment by members of the Cheshire Home Guard who set up a road block in the museum yard and showed visitors the weapons and equipment they would have used to repel an invasion of Chester.
Visitors were encouraged to put out an incendiary bomb (in reality, a potato) using specialist equipment and to take cover in the pill box and Morrison shelter when the air raid siren sounded. A lucky few were also able to sample some wartime carrot cookies and no cook chocolate cake. Low in sugar and fat they would have been perfect when these ingredients were on ration. The no cook recipe also helps to save fuel as the oven is not needed at all!
In addition, Mr Tom Simkins brought along his wonderful collection of historic weapons including the Brown Bess musket, examples from the modern era, and almost everything in between. People really enjoyed these hands on experiences which we hope to turn into a regular feature.
Looking forward to 2014
There is no doubt that 2014 will be a momentous year for the museum. We are very much looking forward to marking the centenary of the First World War; indeed this has been the primary focus in recent weeks. The museum is a partner in the Cheshire Great War Stories project which aims to raise the profile of the Great War throughout the historic county of Cheshire. A varied group of museums, archives, libraries and community groups aim to highlight the dramatic impact of the conflict on Cheshire through the stories of those who served both abroad and on the home front and the wider community.
As part of the project we were chosen to host a digital kiosk which will contain
images and information collected by all the partner organisations over the next twelve months. Each venue hosting a kiosk also displays a board which draws attention
to an event, person or item of particular relevance to that location. Here we have selected the Battle of Mons which was recorded by Lt Matterson in his diary and links to the story of the miniature Colour, one of our most precious artefacts.
For more information on Cheshire Great War Stories events go to the website www. greatwarcheshire.co.uk.
The Mercian Regiment Museum (Worcestershire)
By Col (Retired) Lowles CBE, Chairman of Museum Trustees
We welcomed Dr John Paddock FSA to the museum in January as our first ever professional curator and he has already made
a major impact on several aspects of the museum’s work, notably documentation, conservation and social media. As
a result the museum is now on Facebook and has a website worcestershiresoldier.com but he says there is still much to do!
The move of the office and stores from Norton to Worcester has made it much easier to recruit volunteers on whom we rely very heavily. Amongst those recruited recently we were very fortunate to secure the temporary services of two IT experts late last year, Alex Freginals Font and Michael Staiger. Alex has now left having found a job, but while
with us he streamlined our IT infrastructure
and established our new website. More recently Jayne Hall, an experienced researcher, has joined the research team and Pat Oddy and
The move of the office and stores from Norton to Worcester has made it much easier to recruit volunteers...
Robson Medals
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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