Page 10 - AGC Journal 2018
P. 10

AGC JOURNAL 2018



             The Corps Museum




             By Bianca Taubert, Curator

              The last four months of 2018 has seen a great change with the retirement
              of Ian Bailey, who had been Curator of the Museum for the past sixteen
              years. We wish him well and thank him for his years of work in the
              Museum itself and the wider military museum community.



              New Curator                                   Loan of Artefacts

              I was very pleased to accept the post of Curator, as I have   As part of Winchester’s Military Museums, the Museum was
              been working at the Museum for nine years as both the   happy to loan items for a joint exhibition titled ‘When the

              Museum Assistant and Assistant Curator. The staff have been   Guns Fell Silent’ which took place at Winchester Discovery
              joined by two new part time Museum Assistants, Tabitha and   Centre from the 13th October 2018 until the 25th November

              Taryn, and we were pleased to promote Katia to Assistant   2018. This is the first joint exhibition of Winchester’s Military
              Curator with responsibility for the museum archive.  Museums that has left the Peninsula Barracks site, and was
                                                            awarded funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and by a
              Temporary Exhibitions                         grant from Winchester City Council.
              The museum has had a very busy year working on two
              temporary exhibitions, a number of interesting donations,   Temporary Exhibition
              and working on a research project with Portsmouth
              University. Several members of the Portsmouth University   The Museum has had its own small temporary exhibition, as
              Faculty of Business and Law are researching themes in Army   2018 marked the centenary of Army Resettlement Training.

              accountancy and finance. This has unearthed a treasure   This was joined by a talk delivered as part of Winchester’s
              trove of archival material relating to Army finance from the   Military Museums Lunchtime Lecture series on the history

              Georgian period to modern day.                of resettlement in December. The issues of 1918 and 1945                   Visit of Brigadier Martyn Gamble to the Museum. Bianca Taubert, Colonel
                                                            are easily comparable to Army Resettlement today and a                     Frances Castle, Brigadier Martyn Gamble, Lieutenant Colonel Jason Hurndall,
              Antecedent History                            fascinating insight into government and public attitudes                   Katia Wright and Major (Retired) Joseph Bright
                                                            towards servicemen and women.
              Recently, the museum has been given several donations
              related to antecedent history. One tells the story of Warrant   Redeveloping


              Officer Class One Frederick Fabel Army Educational Corps,
              who was taken prisoner at the fall of Hong Kong and spent   In the coming years the Museum will be redeveloping to
              the remainder of the war as a prisoner in Japan. His records   tell more of the story of the modern Corps. Currently, the
              of the time as well as his wooden Prisoner of War token are   text panels stop at the formation of the Corps in 1992, and
              a welcome addition to our wartime collections and add to   while the displays do continue, we are now in the position
              the information we have from the diary of Major Buck of the   of having a choice of objects to display from the past twenty
              Royal Army Pay Corps. He was also taken prisoner in Hong   six years. As always, we can only display what we have, and
              Kong and spent the remainder of the war at Shamshuipo   the museum welcomes any donations linked with the Corps,
              Camp. Another recent donation tells the story of the service   especially anything related to operations and service post
              of Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Pepper of the Royal Army Pay   Herrick and Telic. We are also looking to revamp our oral
              Corps. This includes photographs, documents relating to his   history programme and would be delighted to hear your
              service and his medals. He joined the Dorsetshire Regiment as   stories of your service with the Corps, tea and cake provided.
              a Boy in 1934 and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal
              Army Pay Corps in 1980.
                                                            Joint Exhibition
              The Modern Corps
                                                            We are also planning a temporary exhibition with the Rifles

              We have also received objects related to the modern Corps.   Museum, co-located with us in Peninsula Barracks for March.
              This includes UNICOM (Unit Computing) related paperwork,   This exhibition will not only commemorate the history
              sports photographs, the Adjutant General’s Corps Band   of women in the Army (and those who supported it with

              Sergeant Major’s stick and the sign for the Army Prosecuting   no official capacity) but to also celebrate the first female




              Authority. We hope to have some of those on display after the   Riflemen joining the Rifles in March 2019. Please get in touch if

              New Year when we change out some of our cases.  you have served with the Rifles or their antecedents.
              Old Photograph
                                                            Visits
              The photograph we are holding was donated this year and                                                                                                                       Endnote
              was originally saved from a skip in 1992. Taken at the Army   We recently hosted a visit from Brigadier Martyn Gamble who   The Museum staff with the



              Pay Office in Penly Grove, Yorkshire, it shows Army Pay   took a great interest in the work of the Museum and stayed        photograph of The Army                              The Museum may undergo change in the near future,

              Corps staff who were part of the working party looking at   for lunch in Copper Joes, the Museum Café. Martyn Gamble is    Pay Office in Penly Grove,                            but as always we are here to support the Corps in


              demobilisation in 1918. An apt donation as the centenary   shortly taking up the post of the Bursar of St Swithin’s School   Yorkshire                                        any way we can. Please do come for a visit or contact
              celebrations for the First World War have come to an end.  in Winchester and we hope to see him again in the Museum.                                                          us if you have any questions.
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