Page 32 - QARANC Vol 17 No 1 2019

30 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Corps Heritage Matters
As Lieutenant Colonel Keiron Spires discussed in his article on QARANC Chattels, the Heritage and Chattels Sub-committee is keen to identify the provenance of items within the collection. This is especially difficult when you cannot be sure of exactly what something is. Ever since I have been visiting Robertson House, I have been intrigued by a large embroidered banner hanging in a frame on the corridor wall outside QARANC RHQ (see photograph). I wondered what it could be, and why it was made. I took a closer look at it during the Chattels audit and took a couple of photographs. It is a silk banner with the insignia of QAIMNS
embroidered on it and included the date – 1914. It had been conserved at some point in its history, and was neatly sewn to a supporting linen backing. Some of the stitches were loosening and the silk had started to fray in a couple of places. It was also very dirty. Luckily, although it was exposed to the corridor lights, it was not in direct sunlight so there was no noticeable colour fading. However, I was no nearer learning anything more about it or indeed where it had come from.
Serendipity then intervened, and I could have kicked myself for not putting two and two together as a churchgoer! The Heritage and Chattels fund acquired an album of photographs depicting the Queen Alexandra Hospital Millbank. The hospital closed in the late 1970s, with the buildings being taken over by the Tate Gallery. One of the photographs was of the chapel, and as I looked more closely at the photograph, what should I see but the banner now hanging in a frame at Robertson House! In a church or chapel, banners are mounted on a pole with a cross rod and can be kept on a banner stand when not being carried in a procession. It was very clear that the banner in the picture is the banner in the frame at Robertson House. We can only assume that it was rescued from the chapel at Millbank, conserved, and then framed to be kept at RHQ.
The banner during cleaning and conservation
It is currently undergoing cleaning, conservation and reframing, and I am very much looking forward to its return to Robertson House in the not too distant future.
The Heritage and Chattels Committee continues to meet at Robertson House every three to four months. Recently we have welcomed Graham Bandy to our committee membership numbers. He brings an interesting ‘objects’ perspective to our discussion, being a keen collector of military ephemera. Julia Jones, who had recently stepped down as a trustee of the Association, has also joined us.
Our oral history project continues under the guidance of Olivia Barnes, and details of upcoming workshops are given in the dates for your diary on the front inside cover. Please email Alison Roberts at RHQ if you are interested in participating and wish to join the group collecting oral histories (admin@qarancassociation.org.uk).
Alison Spires
Member, QARANC Heritage and Chattels Committee
The framed banner at RHQ Robertson House
The QAIMNS banner in the Chapel of the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank. Date unknown