National Army Museum
Encyclopedia
The National Army Museum is the British Army's
central museum. It is located in the Chelsea
district of central London
, England
adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea
, the home of the "Chelsea Pensioners". The National Army Museum is open to the public every day of the year from 10.00am to 5.30pm, except on 24 - 26 December and 1 January. Admission is free. The museum is a non-departmental public body
.
The National Army Museum relates the overall history of the British Army
, British colonial, imperial and commonwealth forces and the British Indian Army
as a whole from 1066 to the present and its effects on national and international history. This is in contrast to other military museums in the United Kingdom such as Firepower – The Royal Artillery Museum, which relate the history of individual corps
and regiment
s of the British Army
. It also differs from the subject matter of the Imperial War Museum
, another national museum
in London, which has a wider remit of theme (war experiences of British civilians and military personnel) but a narrower remit of time (after 1914).
Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer
, who was its first director and after whom the Museum's study centre is named. The National Army Museum was established by Royal Charter in 1960, with the intention of preserving and exhibiting items related to the history of the forces of British Army, and Commonwealth nations prior to their independence. Its displays were originally housed at the Royal Military Academy
, Sandhurst, only moving into its present building in 1971.
One director, Ian Robertson, initiated a programme to establish an outpost of the Museum in the garrison town of Catterick, North Yorkshire
, to be known as National Army Museum North, on the model of Imperial War Museum
's establishment of the Imperial War Museum North
in Manchester. A large site was chosen near Marne Barracks
, beside the A1, and in 2002 Simon Pierce of Austin-Smith:Lord
was chosen as the new museum's architect. However, funding and planning issues later led to the cancellation of the plan in 2003. The National Army Museum instead underwent a major redevelopment of its gallery and corridor displays at Chelsea from 2006 onwards, establishing new displays in existing permanent display areas, converting the corridors from oil-painting displays to permanent-exhibition spaces, and producing new temporary and permanent display areas on the third floor. This redisplay concluded with the opening of the new permanent National Service gallery in October 2010, though a further phase of redisplay is planned from 2011 onwards.
, Sandhurst, but since 1971 the museum has been housed in a purpose built site on Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea. The site that was chosen was previously part of the old infirmary of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
, and prior to that, had been the location of Walpole House, the residence of Robert Walpole
, widely regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
. The site had been badly damaged during the war, and had remained unoccupied prior to being selected as the new location for the National Army Museum. The building, designed in brutalist style
by William Holford & Partners
, was started in 1961 and completed ten years later, when it was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on November 11, 1971. Most of the fund-raising to pay for its construction was done personally by Templer. An extension, including a new foyer, is planned in 2011-12.
in 1983 under terms of the National Heritage Act. The annual Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Defence
(MOD), is administered by the Director of the Museum on behalf of the governing body, the board of trustees of the National Army Museum.
† = Died in post
(the Buffs) was forced to close, and the trustees of the board decided to donate the entire collection to the National Army Museum. A similar fate befell the Museum of Army Transport
in 2005, and its collection was also transferred to the National Army Museum. The NAM also owns and stores the collection of the regimental museum of the East Kent Buffs, displaying some items from that collection in Canterbury rather than Chelsea (apart from 2008 to 2011, when its gallery at the Royal Museum and Art Gallery
is being refurbished).
during the current conflict in Afghanistan) and War Boy: The Michael Foreman Exhibition (from September 2009 to August 2010, showing original artwork by Michael Foreman
on themes from the First and Second World Wars alongside medals won by Foreman's family and objects from the Museum's own collection). The 2010-2011 exhibition in this space was The Road to Kabul: British Armies in Afghanistan, 1838 - 1919 about the First, Second and Third Afghan Wars (as well as a display of watercolours of the current conflict in Afghanistan by Matthew Cook). This was followed from October 2011 to August 2012 by an exhibition entitled War Horse: Fact & Fiction, exploring the Michael Morpurgo novel of that name alongside real-life stories of horses involved in war and the men who depended on them, also drawing on the play
and film
adaptations of the novel.
, Napoleonic Wars
and British involvement in India from 1794 to 1904. It tells the story of the rivalry with other European Imperial powers, the expansion and defence of British trade and political interests, and the creation of the British Empire
, including the Indian Mutiny.
This gallery is divided into two halves. The first half covers similar ground to Money and Might, with the French Revolutionary Wars
, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812
and the Mysore Wars. Its exhibits include the helmet of Tipu Sultan
. This half concludes with the Battle of Waterloo
, illustrated by the Siborne model, the skeleton of Marengo
and a diorama figure of Charles Ewart
capturing a French eagle. The second half begins with a Victorian Soldier Action Zone, a hands-on, interactive area for children, dealing with weapons and conditions of service for soldiers in the Victorian era. It then continues onto the British Army
and British Indian Army
's involvement in the Crimean War
(including exhibits relating to Florence Nightingale
and a diorama figure of Mary Seacole
), the Indian Mutiny, the Zulu War and the Boer War
, among other conflicts of that era. The display then concludes with a display on the Boer War
on the corridor between the first and second floors.
. It includes a central area for special exhibitions on the two World Wars, such as Finding the Fallen on the identification of soldiers' remains by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
(2005 to 2006) and Faces of Battle on early plastic surgery by Harold Gillies
(2007-2008).
, in a display which opened in March 2010.
to the present day. The Conflicts of Interest opened on 12 September 2009 and was long-listed for the Art Fund Prize in 2010. The other campaigns it examines are the Gulf War
, Kosovo
the Bosnian War
, the Falklands War
and the current conflict in Afghanistan
. It also looks at themes in modern soldiers' lives, such as homelessness, healthcare, mental health and home life.
, John Wootton
, Sir Joshua Reynolds
, Thomas Gainsborough
, Benjamin West
, Sir Henry Raeburn
, Francis Cotes
, George Jones
, Lady Butler
, Richard Caton Woodville
, Rex Whistler
and John Keane
. Those portrayed include Oliver Cromwell
, James II
, George III, the Marquess of Granby
and the Duke of Wellington
. It also includes furniture from the museum collection.
.
It began with a small display on the history of British land-forces from the Battle of Hastings
to just prior to the English Civil War
(including the Hundred Years' War
and War of the Roses). The main display in this gallery, however, traced the history of the British Army's rise in the English Civil Wars, the Glorious Revolution
and the other European wars of the 17th and 18th century. These conflicts included the War of the Austrian Succession
, the Jacobite Rebellion and the Seven Years' War
. It also included early British involvement in India, such as the Black Hole of Calcutta
, and ends with a treatment of conditions of service. It contained an oil painting by JSC Schaak of General James Wolfe
, whose export the Museum managed to prevent in April 2008 through the Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest. It ended with a major display on the American Revolutionary War
on the ramp between the lower ground and ground floors.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
central museum. It is located in the Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
district of central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for British soldiers who are unfit for further duty due to injury or old age, located in the Chelsea region of central London, now the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is a true hospital in the original sense of the word,...
, the home of the "Chelsea Pensioners". The National Army Museum is open to the public every day of the year from 10.00am to 5.30pm, except on 24 - 26 December and 1 January. Admission is free. The museum is a non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
.
The National Army Museum relates the overall history of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, British colonial, imperial and commonwealth forces and the British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
as a whole from 1066 to the present and its effects on national and international history. This is in contrast to other military museums in the United Kingdom such as Firepower – The Royal Artillery Museum, which relate the history of individual corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
and regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
s of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. It also differs from the subject matter of the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, another national museum
National museum
A national museum is a museum maintained by a nation.The following is a list of national museums:-Australia:*Australian National Aviation Museum*Australian National Maritime Museum*, Sydney*Australian War Memorial*Museum Victoria...
in London, which has a wider remit of theme (war experiences of British civilians and military personnel) but a narrower remit of time (after 1914).
History
The National Army Museum was first conceived in the late 1950s, and owes its existence to the persistent hard work of Field MarshalField Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer
Gerald Templer
Field Marshal Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer KG, GCB, GCMG, KBE was a British military commander. He is best known for his defeat of the guerrilla rebels in Malaya between 1952 and 1954...
, who was its first director and after whom the Museum's study centre is named. The National Army Museum was established by Royal Charter in 1960, with the intention of preserving and exhibiting items related to the history of the forces of British Army, and Commonwealth nations prior to their independence. Its displays were originally housed at the Royal Military Academy
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
, Sandhurst, only moving into its present building in 1971.
One director, Ian Robertson, initiated a programme to establish an outpost of the Museum in the garrison town of Catterick, North Yorkshire
Catterick, North Yorkshire
Catterick , sometimes Catterick Village, to distinguish it from the nearby Catterick Garrison, is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England...
, to be known as National Army Museum North, on the model of Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
's establishment of the Imperial War Museum North
Imperial War Museum North
Imperial War Museum North is a museum in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. One of the five branches of the Imperial War Museum, the museum explores the impact of modern conflicts on people and society. It is the first branch of the Imperial War Museum to be...
in Manchester. A large site was chosen near Marne Barracks
Catterick Garrison
Catterick Garrison is a major Army base located in Northern England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world with a population of around 12,000, plus a large temporary population of soldiers, and is larger than its older neighbour...
, beside the A1, and in 2002 Simon Pierce of Austin-Smith:Lord
Austin-Smith:Lord
Austin-Smith:Lord is a British architectural firm, established in 1949.Currently in voluntary administration following staff redundancies in November 2011.-Selected designs:*Riverfront Arts Centre*Avril Robarts LRC*Catalyst...
was chosen as the new museum's architect. However, funding and planning issues later led to the cancellation of the plan in 2003. The National Army Museum instead underwent a major redevelopment of its gallery and corridor displays at Chelsea from 2006 onwards, establishing new displays in existing permanent display areas, converting the corridors from oil-painting displays to permanent-exhibition spaces, and producing new temporary and permanent display areas on the third floor. This redisplay concluded with the opening of the new permanent National Service gallery in October 2010, though a further phase of redisplay is planned from 2011 onwards.
Building
Originally the museum was housed in the old riding school of the Royal Military AcademyRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
, Sandhurst, but since 1971 the museum has been housed in a purpose built site on Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea. The site that was chosen was previously part of the old infirmary of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for British soldiers who are unfit for further duty due to injury or old age, located in the Chelsea region of central London, now the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is a true hospital in the original sense of the word,...
, and prior to that, had been the location of Walpole House, the residence of Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
, widely regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
. The site had been badly damaged during the war, and had remained unoccupied prior to being selected as the new location for the National Army Museum. The building, designed in brutalist style
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
by William Holford & Partners
William Holford, Baron Holford
William Graham Holford, Baron Holford was a British architect and town planner.-Biography:He was born in South Africa and educated at Diocesan College, Cape Town. He studied architecture at Liverpool University, where he won the Rome Scholarship in Architecture to the British School at Rome in 1930...
, was started in 1961 and completed ten years later, when it was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on November 11, 1971. Most of the fund-raising to pay for its construction was done personally by Templer. An extension, including a new foyer, is planned in 2011-12.
Governance
The National Army Museum achieved devolved status as a non-departmental public bodyNon-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
in 1983 under terms of the National Heritage Act. The annual Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
(MOD), is administered by the Director of the Museum on behalf of the governing body, the board of trustees of the National Army Museum.
Directors
- Field Marshal Gerald Templer 1960-196?
- Lieutenant-Colonel Bartleby 196?-1971
- Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Bernard Appleby 1971-1975
- John Paris 1975-1982
- William Reid 1982-1988
- Ian Robertson 1988-2003†
- Dr Alan Guy 2003-2010
- Janice Murray 2010-
† = Died in post
Collection departments
The museum's collections are organised into four departments:- Archives, Photographs, Film and Sound (APFS).
- Fine and Decorative Art (FDA)
- Printed Books
- Exhibits (formed by merging the Uniforms, Badges and Medals department and the Weapons, Equipment and Vehicles department)
Transferred collections
In 1992, the Museum of the Middlesex RegimentMiddlesex Regiment
The Middlesex Regiment was a regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms when the 57th and 77th Regiments of Foot were amalgamated with the county's militia and rifle volunteer units.On 31 December 1966 The Middlesex Regiment was amalgamated with three...
(the Buffs) was forced to close, and the trustees of the board decided to donate the entire collection to the National Army Museum. A similar fate befell the Museum of Army Transport
Museum of Army Transport
The Museum of Army Transport was a museum of British Army vehicles in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was commercially unsuccessful, going into administration, closed in summer 2003. Its collections were transferred to the National Army Museum....
in 2005, and its collection was also transferred to the National Army Museum. The NAM also owns and stores the collection of the regimental museum of the East Kent Buffs, displaying some items from that collection in Canterbury rather than Chelsea (apart from 2008 to 2011, when its gallery at the Royal Museum and Art Gallery
Royal Museum and Art Gallery
The Royal Museum and Art Gallery, known locally as the Beaney Institute or The Beaney, is the central museum, library and art gallery of the city of Canterbury, Kent, England...
is being refurbished).
Galleries
The National Army Museum's galleries are arranged as follows:- Main temporary exhibition space (ground floor)
- Making of Britain 1066-1783 (corridor from ground to 1st floor)
- Changing The World 1784-1904 (1st floor)
- World Wars 1905-1945 (corridor from 1st to 2nd floor; 2nd floor)
- National Service 1947-1963 (permanent display - corridor from 2nd to 3rd floor; temporary display - corridor from 3rd to 4th floor)
- Conflicts of Interest (3rd floor)
- Art Gallery (3rd floor)
- The White Space (temporary displays - 3rd floor)
Making of Britain 1066-1783
The Museum's Making of Britain 1066-1783 gallery (previously located on the lower ground floor and on the corridor ramp from the lower ground floor to the ground floor) closed on 21 February 2011, as did Money and Might, a corridor gallery between the ground and first floors introducing the Changing the World gallery. These were replaced in May 2011 by a new gallery, again entitled Making of Britain 1066-1783, in the corridor between the ground floor and the first floor.Main temporary exhibition space
The museum's main temporary exhibition space on the ground floor houses displays on a variety of subjects. These have included Helmand: The Soldiers' Story (from August 2007 to August 2009, on soldiers' current experiences in Helmand provinceHelmand Province
Helmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation....
during the current conflict in Afghanistan) and War Boy: The Michael Foreman Exhibition (from September 2009 to August 2010, showing original artwork by Michael Foreman
Michael Foreman
Michael James Foreman is an American astronaut.-Personal:Foreman was born in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in Wadsworth, Ohio. He is married to Lorrie Dancer of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma...
on themes from the First and Second World Wars alongside medals won by Foreman's family and objects from the Museum's own collection). The 2010-2011 exhibition in this space was The Road to Kabul: British Armies in Afghanistan, 1838 - 1919 about the First, Second and Third Afghan Wars (as well as a display of watercolours of the current conflict in Afghanistan by Matthew Cook). This was followed from October 2011 to August 2012 by an exhibition entitled War Horse: Fact & Fiction, exploring the Michael Morpurgo novel of that name alongside real-life stories of horses involved in war and the men who depended on them, also drawing on the play
War Horse (play)
War Horse is a play based on the book of the same name by acclaimed children's writer Michael Morpurgo, adapted for stage by Nick Stafford. Originally Morpurgo thought "they must be mad" to try to make a play from his best-selling 1982 novel. He was proved wrong by the play's instant success...
and film
War Horse (film)
War Horse is a 2011 British-American war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and is intended for release in the United States on 25 December 2011 and in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2012...
adaptations of the novel.
Changing the World 1784-1904
The Changing the World gallery tells the story of the French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and British involvement in India from 1794 to 1904. It tells the story of the rivalry with other European Imperial powers, the expansion and defence of British trade and political interests, and the creation of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, including the Indian Mutiny.
This gallery is divided into two halves. The first half covers similar ground to Money and Might, with the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and the Mysore Wars. Its exhibits include the helmet of Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
. This half concludes with the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, illustrated by the Siborne model, the skeleton of Marengo
Marengo (horse)
Marengo was the famous war mount of Napoleon I of France. Named after the Battle of Marengo, through which he carried his rider safely, Marengo was imported to France from Egypt in 1799 as a 6-year-old. The gray Arabian was probably bred at the famous El Naseri Stud...
and a diorama figure of Charles Ewart
Charles Ewart
Ensign Charles Ewart was a Scottish soldier of the Royal North British Dragoons , famous for capturing the regimental eagle of the 45e Régiment de Ligne at the Battle of Waterloo.He was born near Kilmarnock in 1769, and enlisted in the cavalry at the age of twenty...
capturing a French eagle. The second half begins with a Victorian Soldier Action Zone, a hands-on, interactive area for children, dealing with weapons and conditions of service for soldiers in the Victorian era. It then continues onto the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
's involvement in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
(including exhibits relating to Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
and a diorama figure of Mary Seacole
Mary Seacole
Mary Jane Seacole , sometimes known as Mother Seacole or Mary Grant, was a Jamaican nurse best known for her involvement in the Crimean War. She set up and operated boarding houses in Panama and the Crimea to assist in her desire to treat the sick...
), the Indian Mutiny, the Zulu War and the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
, among other conflicts of that era. The display then concludes with a display on the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
on the corridor between the first and second floors.
World Wars 1914-1945
The gallery shows the part played in the First World War and Second World War by the armies of the United Kingdom and her empire and commonwealth. It begins with recruitment for the First World War and ends with a display on the Partition of IndiaPartition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
. It includes a central area for special exhibitions on the two World Wars, such as Finding the Fallen on the identification of soldiers' remains by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
(2005 to 2006) and Faces of Battle on early plastic surgery by Harold Gillies
Harold Gillies
Sir Harold Delf Gillies was a New Zealand-born, and later London based, otolaryngologist who is widely considered as the father of plastic surgery.-Personal life:Gillies was born in Dunedin, New Zealand...
(2007-2008).
National Service 1947-1963
The history of National Service in the United Kingdom is displayed in two galleries. The first of these is a permanent gallery dealing with the period (in the corridor between the second and third floors), which opened in October 2010. This is supported by the second gallery, which is a rotating display on different campaigns during the National Service period in the corridor between the third and fourth floors - the campaign currently examined is the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, in a display which opened in March 2010.
Conflicts of Interest
The Museum's third floor display area was previously divided into a gallery on National Service and a gallery on the modern army. This has recently been redeveloped and re-opened as the White Space (a temporary display space for art exhibitions) and the Conflicts of Interest gallery, dealing with the modern army from the TroublesThe Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
to the present day. The Conflicts of Interest opened on 12 September 2009 and was long-listed for the Art Fund Prize in 2010. The other campaigns it examines are the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
, the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
and the current conflict in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
. It also looks at themes in modern soldiers' lives, such as homelessness, healthcare, mental health and home life.
Art Gallery
The National Army museum's permanent Art Gallery houses a large number of the oil paintings in museum's collections from the 16th century to the 20th century, including works by Jan WyckJan Wyck
Jan Wyck was a Dutch baroque painter, best known for his works on military subjects...
, John Wootton
John Wootton
John Wootton was an English painter of sporting subjects, battle scenes and landscapes, and illustrator.-Life:Born in Snitterfield, Warwickshire , he is best remembered as a pioneer in the painting of sporting subjects – together with Peter Tillemans and James Seymour – and was considered the...
, Sir Joshua Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
, Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...
, Benjamin West
Benjamin West
Benjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...
, Sir Henry Raeburn
Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish portrait painter, the first significant Scottish portraitist since the Act of Union 1707 to remain based in Scotland.-Biography:...
, Francis Cotes
Francis Cotes
Francis Cotes was an English painter, one of the pioneers of English pastel painting, and a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768.-Life and work:...
, George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
, Lady Butler
Elizabeth Thompson
Elizabeth Southerden Thompson, Lady Butler was a British painter, one of the few female painters to achieve fame for history paintings, especially military battle scenes, at the end of that tradition...
, Richard Caton Woodville
Richard Caton Woodville
Richard Caton Woodville was an English artist and illustrator, who is best known for being one of the most prolific and effective painters of battle scenes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Biography:...
, Rex Whistler
Rex Whistler
Reginald John 'Rex' Whistler was a British artist, designer and illustrator.-Biography:Rex Whistler was born in Eltham, Kent, the son of Henry and Helen Frances Mary Whistler...
and John Keane
John Keane (artist)
John Granville Coldoys Keane is a British artist, whose paintings have contemporary political and social themes.-Life and work:John Keane was born in Hertfordshire, England...
. Those portrayed include Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, George III, the Marquess of Granby
John Manners, Marquess of Granby
General John Manners, Marquess of Granby PC, , British soldier, was the eldest son of the 3rd Duke of Rutland. As he did not outlive his father, he was known by his father's subsidiary title, Marquess of Granby...
and the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
. It also includes furniture from the museum collection.
The White Space
Launched in June 2009, the White Space is a temporary exhibition space housing a rolling programme of exhibitions throughout the year. Its first exhibition, 'Caught on Canvas' was about the history of military portraiture. It was followed in late 2009 by 'First Shots', focused on early war photography from 1848- 60. The next exhibition, 'Indian Art, Indian Armies: Soldiers, collectors and artists 1780 - 1880' (May 2010-January 2011) explored the cultural exchange between the British and India in the 18th and 19th centuries. From January to July 2011 this space housed 'Wives and Sweethearts', exploring the impact of war and military service on soldiers and their loved ones, followed from 2011 to 2012 by 'Draw Your Weapons', themed around Commando ComicsCommando Comics
Commando For Action and Adventure, formerly known as Commando War Stories in Pictures, and colloquially known as Commando Comics, are a series of British comic books that primarily draw their themes and backdrops from the various incidents of the World Wars I and II...
.
Making of Britain 1066-1783
This gallery was designed to explain the story of the making of Britain, and explores foreign invasions, internal conflicts and rebellions, early conflicts with European powers, the first standing Army, the relationship between England, Ireland and Scotland, and the creation of Great Britain as a political entity, as well as the development of the British Army. This gallery also explored Britain's first colonial enterprises, and the role the British Army played in them.It began with a small display on the history of British land-forces from the Battle of Hastings
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
to just prior to the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
(including the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
and War of the Roses). The main display in this gallery, however, traced the history of the British Army's rise in the English Civil Wars, the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
and the other European wars of the 17th and 18th century. These conflicts included the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
, the Jacobite Rebellion and the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. It also included early British involvement in India, such as the Black Hole of Calcutta
Black Hole of Calcutta
The Black Hole of Calcutta was a small dungeon in the old Fort William, at Calcutta, India, where troops of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, held British prisoners of war after the capture of the Fort on June 19, 1756....
, and ends with a treatment of conditions of service. It contained an oil painting by JSC Schaak of General James Wolfe
James Wolfe
Major General James P. Wolfe was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada...
, whose export the Museum managed to prevent in April 2008 through the Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest. It ended with a major display on the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
on the ramp between the lower ground and ground floors.