I finished work early, for a change, on Thursday, and headed over to Royal Hospital Road and got there for the last hour of opening time. It felt somehow appropriate on that day. I hardly saw another visitor and virtually had the place to myself (and the staff who work there). This meant I was free to move around and linger as long as I liked at any exhibit. I took a few photos, most of which are below. Hope you enjoy them.
 |
| I always liked these |
 |
| Rifled muzzle-loaded field gun. It looked smoothbore, but if you look closely at the picture below, you can just about make out the rifling. |
 |
| Hot weather shako cover from the West Indies |
 |
| Fort in Guadeloupe, 1759 |
 |
| Sepoy. Late 18th C? |
 |
| Balls from Plassey, IIRC |
 |
Tipu Sultan's headdress
|
 |
| Officer's uniform, Bengal Lancers, late 19thC. One of my favourite exhibits. |
 |
| Lightweight suit for servicemen flying on civilian aircraft to the Far East. c.1950. something I never would have expected. |
 |
| Beret and smock of WO1 'Dia' Harvey, SAS, c 1982. Did part of a 4-man patrol that was inserted behind Argentinian lines, 3 weeks before the British landings on the Falkland Islands. |
 |
| 7.62mm SLR (late 1950s) and (disposable) AT rocket launcher (1970s) |
 |
| Doglock (flintlock) pistol from the ECW period. |
 |
| Sorry this is off-centre but I wanted to capture the caption. General George Monck. |
 |
| General Hugh MacKay, opponent of the Jacobites in the Williamite War. |
 |
| George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney, of Marlburian War fame. Painting from c 1724, when Orkney was a Field Marshall. |
 |
| No prizes for guessing who this full-figured young prince is. |
 |
| Humber 'Pig', in a section on the Troubles in Northern Ireland. |
 |
| Remote controlled bomb disposal robot. |
 |
| SLR, 'riot gun' with baton round, home-made SMG (used by the Ulster Volunteer Force - 'Loyalist' |
terror group). Just off picture, top-left, is an 'Armalite' rifle used by the PIRA terrorists.
I enjoyed your photos, thanks for sharing them. The last time I was in the NAM I found the thematic as opposed to chronological nature of the displays a tad off putting.
ReplyDeleteAlan Tradgardland
I know what you mean. It doesn’t tell the story the same as a straight chronological approach does. But it does allow characters comparisons to be made across the ages within those themes, e.g. what soldiering was in the Empire.
DeleteChris
Excellent photos Chris. I really enjoy it when people post photos of distant places of interest that I am unlikely to get to (again). I visited the National Army Museum on a trip to your shores in '76. The Siborne model was a highlight for a young maker of models and kid who enjoyed toy soldiers who was only just beginning his life-long interest in the Napoleonic era.
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
Glad to be of service James. We are lucky here with the access to museums and other places of historical interest*. Especially here in the capital. I need to take more advantage of it.
Delete* we’re not so lucky as you with the weather though 😉
Chris
Thanks for the museum tour!
ReplyDeleteYou’re most welcome Jon.
DeleteA nice place to visit Chris and thanks for sharing all the photos - my one and only trip to NAM was circa 2002, with my then brother-in-law who was stationed at the US Embassy in London (he was in the USN and living with my sister and their kids out at RAF High Wycombe)
ReplyDeleteHigh Wycombe is handily placed Keith. London a short distance away, places like Oxford, Edgehill, Cropedy, Blenheim Palace close by and lovely countryside on the doorstep.
DeleteChris
Haven't been to the NAM since 1990s - never in London long enough!
ReplyDeleteCarrier - my dad was the driver of the flame thrower variant, the WASP.
Sibborne looks like an early exponent of teddy bear fur terrain! No wonder they are becoming extinct if we've been at it that long! ☺
Neil
I always think the UC’s crews’ heads must have felt vulnerable. Especially the driver.
DeleteYou’ve got me thinking about new words for the teddy bears pincic song now!
Chris
Thanks very much for sharing this Chris. Great photos and very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe diorama is spectacular.
The diorama is fantastic, and the story of its development by Siborne is fascinating.
DeleteThanks for the tour!
ReplyDeleteLooks like an interesting museum!!
You're welcome Roger. It's well worth a visit if you're ever in London, and like most of the big museums and galleries in London, there is no entry charge.
DeleteA nice way to round off the working day Chris, with plenty of interesting exhibits:).
ReplyDeleteNice pictures Chris, thank you. I too was a bit underwhelmed by the 'new' NAM ( though the cafe is quite nice!), but they still have some good stuff if you can find it, and I must go and see that Bren Carrier..
ReplyDeleteBy chance I had a similar idea to you, I dropped in at the IWM last Thursday afternoon, it seemed appropriate.
I think Alan is coming from the same place as you on the new layout at NAM. The jury is out as far as I’m concerned, so another visit is in order.
DeleteI thought the caff looked nice and it’s a good place to spend time. I was less convinced by the sarnies.
Chris
Nice tour. Cheers Chris.
ReplyDeleteCheers Richard.
DeleteI never manage to make good photos in museums and therefore I'm always happy to see such pictures on blogs. Great paintings. I'm searching for paintings for my own blog - which is difficult especially for the 1730s. Well done, sir!
ReplyDeleteVielen dank! If you want to use those pictures of paintings I’m ok with that. Or if you need something more direct on them, let me know as I should be able to get along to the museum again.
DeleteChris