Page 94 - MERCIAN Eagle 2019

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The Staffordshire
Regiment Museum
Danielle Crozier, Museum Director
2019 started off on a sombre note for
us all here at the Museum. We sadly
lost one of our long-term volunteers,
Mike Weberly. Mike had been with the museum for 15 years and was one of the original members of our education team. As a retired headteacher he put all of his professional knowledge into helping us set up an education programme which proves year on year to be a success. He had been a passionate supporter of the museum and also of the Staffordshire and Mercian Regiment who he was
also keen to support and promote.
Our exhibition
year started off
early in January with
our final Great War
commemoration project;
a special exhibition on
the 2nd Battalion the
North Staffordshire
Regiment’s part in the Third Afghan War of 1919. This conflict is often overlooked in the shadow of the Armistice and the end
of World War 1. It was important for us to highlight the point for our visitors that the Armistice did not bring about worldwide peace, and that men were still serving overseas in different conflicts. The exhibition was very kindly produced for us by Lt Col
James Green of 4 MERCIAN, as a follow up to a book he published on the topic called ‘Frontier Assault’. You can obtain copies of this from the museum or through Amazon if you are interested in learning more.
Our volunteers were their usual busy selves last year, continuing their unceasing support for the museum in a variety of ways. With their help we held 15 events on site, as well as supporting various activities off-site. School visits also remained steady and high all year, despite an expected
drop in interest at
the end of Great War Commemorations. With support from
the Museum Friends our volunteer’s main project this year was to develop a Women’s Voluntary Service wagon which can be used on event days to
sell refreshments from. It has been a great success so far and our WVS ladies are already planning how they can improve it for the 2020 season. Work never stops on site, and there is always a follow up project waiting. In 2020 they are looking to expand on the victory garden and our unexploded bomb exhibit.
Once we had completed the North
In 2020 they are looking to expand on the victory garden and our unexploded bomb exhibit
Members of the Museum Friends stand by as Dennis Smart cuts the ribbon to open the new WVS Wagon. Dennis built the wagon from scratch from an old garden shed.
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