Page 11 - AGC Journal 2018

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.
10 11