Warwickshire News Mine

Warwickshire Museum has created a thought provoking exhibition to commemorate 11 November 2008 which is the 90th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice which ended World War I. The display looks at World War I and the Armistice, through the experiences and possessions of those involved.

The idea for the exhibition was conceived when staff looked at a box of personal possessions belonging to a soldier killed in action in World War 1. The box had belonged to the Honourable Captain Eric Upton of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps and had been donated to the museum by his sister, the Honourable Mrs Carr Gregg, wife of the Reverend Carr-Gregg, Vicar of Astley, near Nuneaton, before her death in 1956.

Nicola Sherhod, Assistant Keeper of Human History said
“The objects displayed represent soldiers’ experiences of the Great War and include personal belongings, letters home, cartoons, poetry and the Remembrance Day poppy. One postcard, showing a military campsite, is from a soldier with love to his “girl at Warwick”.

War medals awarded posthumously and a memorial plaque, known as a Death Penny, are also included in the exhibition which goes on to tell stories of some of the Warwickshire soldiers who lost their lives in the war. Privates Eli Smith (aged 21) and John Humphries (aged 26) from Battalions of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment were both killed in action. Photographs of their graves in France are a poignant reminder of their sacrifice. Thankfully, the exhibition also has happy stories including William Egbert ‘Bertie’ Seed, who survived the war and left the 3rd The King’s Own Hussars as a Quartermaster-Sergeant. He died aged 83.”

The museum would like to thank The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (Royal Warwickshire) Museum and the Queen’s Own Hussars Museum, who have loaned objects for the exhibition and whose help and support has been gratefully received.

The exhibition will be at Market Hall Museum, Warwick from 4 November until 30 November.

Link to WCC