newsletter | issue 1 jun… · web viewwelcome to the latest edition of the sphc newsletter. it has...
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EDITORIALWelcome to the latest edition of the SPHC Newsletter. It has been a busy few months which have seen the Royal Artillery Archive open its doors in Artillery Barracks, Larkhill and of course the decision from the HLF. The website is being launched????We are always looking for articles and interesting Gunner history so if you have anything that you might like to add then please do get in touch. Sarah Davies – Editor & Communications Mgr.
Major General Nick Eeles – Chairman RAML
Newsletter, Issue 4May 2017www.salisburyplainheritagecentre.com
www.facebook.com/SalisburyPlainHeritageCentre/
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TRANSITION UPDATEPhase 2 - Conservation – Volunteers – Access and ExhibitionsSimon Wright, Operations Manager Royal Artillery Museum (RAM)
Curator Emeritus Philip Magrath & Conservator Jana Jurgova in Upavon
Equipment Manager Adrian Haynes in a microclimate compartment.
Our first Volunteer Melinda Williams cleaning and preserving the surface of Bhurmese Dragon Gun in Upavon
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SALISBURY PLAIN HERTIAGE CENTRE – PROGRAMME UPDATE
ROYAL ARTILLERY MUSEUM ARCHIVE
The Royal Artillery Museum Archive is now open!Do e-mail us if you would like to visit and look at some of our amazing records. Or drop us a message on Facebook with your e-mail address and we will send you details.We are open two days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) at Larkhill in Wiltshire. We're still fairly small, and we are on an army base, so please book at least a week in advance so we can make sure we have a place for you, and sort out a pass.Do also let us know if you have any questions about our records. We're happy to answer brief enquiries, and we've started a paid service for more detailed historical research. Contact us with your questions, and we'll let you know how we can help.We look forward to seeing and hearing from you!E-mail: [email protected]ân Mogridge
Major General N EelsCBE, Mr S Wright and Sian Mogridge open the archive in Larkhill.
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NEW APPOINTMENTS FOR RAM
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EQUESTRIAN
Brigadier Mark MilliganPresident RA EquitationPresident RA Hunt
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The Society of Friends of the Royal Artillery CollectionsThe Friends continue during the interregnum between Woolwich (Firepower) and Larkhill (Salisbury Plain Heritage Centre (SPHC)). At the 2015 Friends AGM, it was decided to keep the Friends going in order to be in a position to move forward in support of the new museum. At the last AGM it was agreed that we should change our name to the Society of Friends of the Royal Artillery Collections to reflect the new situation and a new Council was elected.By the nature of things we are a reactive organisation, responding to the current situation and we are feeling our way towards where we can support the Collections most effectively. Amongst other things going on at the moment:
We have made a significant financial contribution to the Gunner Gallery that has now opened in the Greenwich Heritage Centre, Woolwich. Much of the curatorial input for this project came from the Friends.
We are currently sponsoring the photography of the Collections both as a record and possibly to form the basis of a virtual museum to allow some public access while most of the artifacts are in store.
The Library & Archives are to be reconstituted at Larkhill under the control of Siân Mogridge, a qualified and experienced archivist. It is hoped that these will start to become available to the public from March onwards and it is expected that Friends will have free access.
Currently access to the collections in storage is being controlled by the Royal Artillery Museum, but we hope to achieve some form of controlled access for the Friends as things settle down.
We are keenly supporting the current application for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to kick-start the new museum.So far as the future of the Friends is concerned, I believe we have a significant role in developing the well-being of the Collections and ensuring that they are accorded the priority they deserve in the heritage of the nation, as well as continuing to support the Gallery in Woolwich. Our overriding interest is to ensure the unique nature of the Collections is not lost for future generations and is made available for learning and research. Please feel free to contact me for
THE SOCIETY OF THE FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL ARTILLERY COLLECTIONS
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The Ammunition CollectionThe documentation and conservation of the ammunition element of the collection is moving ahead slowly but surely, in spite of the best efforts of the database software to thwart it. The fuze set is now fully identified, listed, and largely recorded on the database, mostly awaiting identification pictures.
The providence of most items we have seen so far is however, sadly missing. We can only hope that more information is recorded for future acquisitions. Identification of items has been a slow process as the database lists many items under the most unhelpful titles such as ‘Shell’, or ‘Fuze’, with little or no other detail. The result is that every item has not only to be identified, but also researched in order to provide some meaningful data in the database. There are some surprises, and some items whose identity defeats us. I wonder if anybody recognises the item in this picture?
(Yes, the lower item is a ruler!)
The item was found sitting uncomfortably in the Fuze collection. We have made some guesses as to what it might be, but we need more than guesswork before fitting it in the correct area of the database.
If anybody can shed any light on this item please contact:
or both.
Items of interest turn up frequently and unexpectedly. The picture on the right is of a German WW1 Incendiary bomb, hand launched from a Zeppelin airship. Why we have it we don’t know, but our best guess is that it was dropped on the Woolwich Arsenal, or in the Woolwich area, during the Zeppelin raid on 7/8 September 1915. Any other guesses or factual information will be gratefully received by either of the above. It was quite a nasty item when it was used. Filled with thermite and surrounded with tarred rope, it was extremely difficult to extinguish. (The bits of chicken wire hanging around it were to secure the tarred rope).
I hope that, by the next newsletter we will be able to report a rationalisation of the projectiles, segregating the non-artillery items from the main collection. This again involves full identification of each item – expanding on the current, although not incorrect, designation of ‘Shell’.
Major (Retd) J Reid MBEWW1 German Incendiary Bomb
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