Page 109 - The Chapka 2017

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 107
The Queen’s Royal Lancers and Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum
2017 saw the sixth anniversary of the museum opening at Thoresby Park. Since that time, we have had in excess of 215,000 visitors. This averages out to
35,000 a year which is not bad at all for
a small military museum in a rural loca- tion. Our Facebook following has also increased to over 950 and virtual visitors have been in excess of 35,000.
During the year we have continued with
our “Call to Arms” exhibition which fo-
cused on the main events of 1917 and
the parts played by our antecedent Regi-
ments. This exhibition has proved to be
very popular with the visiting public. We
have also covered the 75th anniversary
of the Battles of Alamein and Knights-
bridge, the Torch Landings in North Af-
rica and Blade Force, as well as featuring a special Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY) visit to Normandy in our public relations.
The museum has hosted a number of visits including the WOs’ & Sgts’ from the Royal Lancers, A Squadron SRY, D Company, Worcester and Sherwood Foresters and members of the Water- loo Society, who kindly made a donation of £100 to the museum.
In March, the museum loaned a number of 16L artefacts to the Newarke Museum in Leicester as part of the Sikh Museum Ini- tiative exhibition on the Anglo Sikh Wars 1845-49. I am pleased to report that the exhibition was a great success with 12,318 visitors seeing the displays. There was also a parallel exhibition held at the University of Leicester during the same time which showcased pages from the Illustrated London News from the time of the wars.
On the 26th April we had the official unveiling of a Mk II Ferret Scout Car, by Mr Hugh Matheson of the Stonebridge Trust. The
Ferret had been kindly donated by Lady Rozelle Raynes. The ceremony was followed by a buffet lunch attended by the Stone- bridge Trust trustees, Museum Board
museum, via our low us on Facebook.
members, volunteers and guests.
Other events included a memorial service at Southwell Minster for the 75th An- niversary of the Battle of Alamein and Knightsbridge and a VC commemoration at Chatteris for Private Billy Clare, 5th Lancers. I think you will agree it has been a busy year.
If you have not yet visited the museum, then please take time out to do so. We look forward to seeing you soon. In the meantime, check out the history, opening times and even take a virtual tour of the website www.qrlnymuseum.co.uk or fol-
JMH
Visit to the Museum by the Regimental Sergeant Major and members of The Royal Lancers Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess