Page 109 - MERCIAN Eagle 2021

men designated for one support Regiment, suddenly found themselves being posted
to another. Private Sims was present at El Alamein, and acted in Tunisia. He was later in Italy with the 6th and after a heavy action, he and a number of others fell asleep to awaken and find themselves prisoners of war. At the end of the war he was with a group which was flown home aboard a Lancaster Bomber, the pilot treated his passengers to a tour of the D-Day Landing beaches on route to England. In later life
he went to live in Spain, where he recently passed away. Frederick’s medals are now on display and serve as a permanent reminder of his service.
Captain Craig Parry, Royal Army Dental Corps waiting for the public to arrive to view the exhibition commemorating the centenary of the RADC, October half term
We have recently received a medal and archives which belonged to Private Bertram Beresford Griffiths. Bertram joined the 4th Cheshire’s later in the war but did not see any action overseas. However, he was posted to Germany a few weeks after the war ended and served with the BAOR Army of Occupation. Alongside the photographs and letters sent home by Bertram, were documents sent to his parents telling them of their son’s death. On the 17th of February 1947, Bertram had been out on a working party undertaking tree felling, when he was unfortunately struck by a tree which was being towed behind a tractor. He received serious injuries and despite being admitted to the 29th British Military Hospital in Hanover, he died on the 22nd February.
His death highlights the sad fact that not
all forces deaths are due to enemy action and members of the Armed Forces can lose their lives in many different ways. Private Griffiths is buried in Hannover (Limmer) British Cemetery, Germany. His medal is now on display at the museum.
The mural installation ‘Fallen for the Fallen’ consisting of five highly decorated panels has been displayed in the cloakroom and entrance to the Education Room. Originally displayed in Chester Cathedral, the panels were created by Upton school children with help from local artist Julie Mitchell in 2018. They were part of a community project in Upton, Chester focusing on the soldiers commemorated on the Upton war memorial and were donated to the museum, at the end of the project. Here they will be seen by school and community groups for years to come.
Exhibitions
The temporary exhibitions programme for 2021 was affected by the lockdown at the beginning of the year. Despite this,
we have put on three displays covering
a range of interesting subjects. The first entitled ‘Strike up the Band’ outlined the role of music in the Cheshire Regiment and its continued role in the modern
Army. The second was a national touring exhibition produced by the Museum of Military Medicine commemorating the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Army Dental Corps. The exhibition covered both the Corps history and its role in the Army of today. During October half term we were pleased to welcome Captain Craig Parry from the RADC, to answer visitors’ questions about the exhibition and to explain his role as an army dentist. The final exhibition of the year was the annual commemoration of Armistice Day and remembrance.
Staffordshire Regiment Museum
Peter Collins, Director
I am sure many of you are aware of
the work of Ian Hislop, editor of the satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’ for many years and one of the mainstays of the BBC television show, ‘Have I got news for you’ for the last twenty-five years or so. So, I am sure many readers would be surprised as I was to see him strolling up the path to the Museum one afternoon in mid-June with a radio producer!
However, this was not an impromptu visit; all had been arranged through RHQ. Ian had arranged to talk to myself, and Corporal Thornton about what Mercia means to us. Ian Hislop’s visit
to the Museum was part of a series of BBC Radio 4 programs he was making, which in turn are part of a wider series of programs entitled ‘This Union’ exploring British identity today on Radio 4. The series Ian is involved with focuses on the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Great Britain (Wessex, Northumbria, East Anglia, and of course very own Mercia) and their relevance to the nature of British identity today.
Although Ian and his producer spent some couple of hours recording myself and Corporal Thornton, we of course only made some two minutes of the final finished program on Mercia, however
they of course were a very important couple of minutes! It was really lovely meeting Ian who seemed to enjoy his time at the Museum, and you never know might be back, as he seemed particularly taken by our trench, and who would not be, as possible location for staging a play version of the ‘Wipers Times’, which Ian penned a few years back.
It you are interested to hear the programs they should be still available on BBC Sounds under the title, ‘This Union: The Ghost Kingdoms of England’
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