 | Museum of the Staffordshire Regiment |
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Opinion»
The Staffords will soon give up their individuality to be merged into the new "Mercian Regiment" in 2006. See full story
Are you disappointed to see the old name disappear? Or is this simply the process of history? Make your comment below
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Contact Details »
ENQUIRIES01543 434390
eMAILmuseum@rhqstaffords.fsnet.co.uk
WEB SITE www.army.mod.uk/staffords
What's on and admissions?
For news of exhibitions - check our arts listings pages
Regiment History features
See our Features section
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Have you been? What did you think of it? See Your Comments - and make one yourself! | The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites |
Information »
Some four room-areas with lots of glass cases containing uniforms, badges, ancient documents, pictures and weapons.There are relics from the Sikh Wars, the Crimea, Indian Mutiny, Zulu War, Egypt, Sudan, South Africa and both World Wars.
The medals display includes eight of the thirteen VCs awarded to men of the regiment and see the tale of Private Wilf Wright come to life with the touch of a button.
(See our Jack Baskeyfield VC page)
Outside there are armoured vehicles, two Anderson Shelters and 100 yards of a replica 1st WW trench with sound effects & No-Mans-Land.
The regimental archive and library are held on site and may be viewed by appointment with the Museum Office.
If you wish to support the museum, you can join the Friends of the Regiment organisation- contact: Philip Holmes
Review - our Tourism man Harry Butt gives us his opinion of the Museum»
At first it seems very old-fashioned with the traditional glass-case approach and the kind of musty smell of old things. This atmosphere is made even more quiet because, as the museum is located so off the beaten track, there are no passers-by just dropping in.
But, weirdly, I found this made the place even more an experience. The horrific details and the tragedies of the life of the ordinary soldier down the centuries became even more poignant studied in this reverential air. Some of the stories of individuals - beautifully collected by the way - became even sadder.
The replica WW1 trench outside the museum building is even more evocative - especially on a bleak and grey wintry day! With a little imagination, you can try to share what the ordinary Tommy's life must have been like.
Incidentally, though kids will like the vehicles and the trench, the displays may not be up their street, so phone in advance to see if the Museum is having a day when kids can try on uniforms, do drawings etc.
HB
Opinion»
The Staffords will soon give up their individuality to be merged into the new "Mercian Regiment" in 2006. See full story
Are you disappointed to see the old name disappear? Or is this simply the process of history? Make your comment below |
Features»
The Staffordshire Regiment is 300 years old as of 2005 - so BBC radio reporter Tim Beech went along to discover more about the life of the museum.
He compiled four reports for us - which you can hear here...
History»
See details of Dave Cooper's book - a history about the 300 Years of the Regiment
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Have your say on the Staffordshire Regiment and its Museum»
Have you been to the Regimental Museum itself? What do you think of it?
Do you have memories of life in the regiment?
and....
How do you react to news of the merging of the regiment with other regiments to become the Mercian Regiment? See full story |
Disbanding of The Staffords.
I served 12 years with the Staffords. I joined in 1978 at Lichfield Barracks as a junior. Joined the rear details of the regiment at Colchester before flying out for an 18 month tour of Londonderry. All my family have served in the armed forces, and I am proud of the fact that a direct decendent of mine served in the defeat of the Spanish armarda.
I think that its an outrage and complete folly to be disbanding a Regiment such as this. As with all these sort of decisions, by the time it has been proven it will be to late. The nameless civil servents will have moved on to their next monumental mistake! You only have to see the sterling service the Regiment has always deliverd, in whichever circumstances it has been asked to serve in to realise you have a Regiment that is, to borrow from my fathers old Regiment "SECOND TO NON!"
This ought to be stopped!
Andrew Stuart-Thompson
Telford
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Staffs Regt to disappear
I read the news with horror. To think that so much history is wiped away with the stroke of a pen is shocking.
There is much to share with the Cheshires, but a "mercian" regiment? I for one am saddened.
John Taylor
Rugeley
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Staffs Regt Museum
The museum is not quite what you expect, being not in some grand baronial hall, but in a temporary building in the grounds of Whittington Barracks. Also, its smaller than I expected if there were more than thirty visitors at any one time it would be quite crowded, being only the size of the floor space of a decent terraced house. Still...... it was warm, and comfortingly old-fashioned.Outside is the really impressive bit the re-creation of a first world war trench. You can wander the lines, and peer over the top to see the sickening sight of masses of barbed wire which the soldiers had to get through well before they could charge enemy lines. Many never made it of course at the Battle of the Somme, for instance, the Allies were not able to blow apart the barbed wire and men simply had to thrust their way through it. If they could.
I never realised until afterwards that there were sound effects in the trench too if you requested them; this wasnt made clear. The Staffords, and the ancestor regiments to them, have been everywhere. From the Zulu War to the Crimea to South America to the two world wars and Northern Ireland they seem to have been at every battle front. The only fight they seemed to have missed was the Korean war where the regiment was not posted until after fighting was over. The letters and photos are the most interesting to someone like me who couldnt care less what the regimental badge was in the 1890s. They outlined the amazing lengths to which duty took many ordinary men. To read about Coltman VC, the most decorated ordinary soldier ever in the British Army, was a sobering experience.
And indeed, What I found fascinating was the invisible hand of the curator. This could have been a history of the glory and great men of the regiment and its battle honours, but in fact many of the exhibits are designed to remind us of the horror and hellishness of soldiering, and of its all to frequent end.
The life and privations of the ordinary soldier and you wonder sometimes how they could have stood what they stood is my abiding memory of this visit.
Joel
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