Page 163 - RAPTC Mind, Body & Spirit

2017 has been another exciting year for the RAPTC Museum, with the addition of some fantastic new objects to the collection. These include both historic items and
those showing the present-day activities of the Corp, including objects from the RAPTC football and rowing teams. The latter are particularly welcome as they enable the Museum to represent the Corps as a functioning and modern part of the Army to visitors.
The Museum has also taken great strides in researching, rediscovering and cataloguing objects held in storage. This has uncovered information about the historic value of some of these objects which have since been put on display in the Museum. As ever, we are grateful for the hard work of our dedicated volunteers who have put a lot of their time into making this happen.
Over the next few months, the Museum will be looking to bring some of these stories to a wider audience. 2018 is an important year, bringing the last of the centennial anniversaries of World War One. This represents the last big chance to commemorate the role played by the 2299 men who served in the then Army Gymnastic Staff during the conflict, including the dozens who lost their lives.
The AGS played a vital part in WW1, training the new armies for battle and using their expertise to help preserve the bodily and mental wellbeing of the men undergoing the extreme physical and psychological pressures of the Western Front. It is a testament to this training that Britain alone of the major European combatants did not suffer a serious mutiny or collapse of its Armed Forces during the War.
Towards the anniversary of the Armistice, the Museum will be honouring the wartime role of the AGS by co-hosting a temporary exhibition with a number of other military museums. This will focus on the 100 Days Offensive that ended the War, exploring the interlinking contributions of both the AGS and other Army Corps in achieving victory.
The exhibition will feature a physical display of WW1 objects and interpretive panels, as well as a video post in which the Curator will expound upon some of the objects and the stories of the men who used them. The latter will be made available via Social Media, as well as on the Museum website. More exact timings about the
WW1 Assault Course
Inside RAPTC Museum
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RAPTC MUSEUM
Eli Dawson – Curator
hosting of the exhibition will be released on these mediums later in the year.
If you were unaware of the Museum’s online presence, it has expanded over the last year with the launching of the new website and a renewed focus on Twitter and Facebook. If you would like to have a look, new friends and followers are always welcome! You will find lots of interesting snippets of information about the Corps, historic photographs, details about objects in the collection and the latest news about the Museum’s activities.
Whether digitally or in person, visitors to the Museum ensure that the stories and achievements recorded inside are not forgotten, but can instead continue to bring pride and inspiration to everybody connected with the RAPTC.
Lt Col (SMAA) T Scarr RAPTC receives the RAPTC FC album from officials and members of the team
WW1 Belt belonging to Sgt (SI) Lynch AGS, on display in the RAPTC Museum