The Armourer May 2022

As I write all thoughts of the Covid pandemic, which has wrought so much death and chaos over the past two years, have all but vanished thanks to events in the Ukraine. It’s somewhat ironic that many of the countries in our new series on webbing of the Soviet bloc are now members of NATO, as Russia threatens Europe and the entire world. The events in Ukraine are a bitter reminder that militaria, and the ability to collect it, is a consequence of war and military force. No one in their right mind wants war, but the stories of heroism, service and battles are what make militaria such a fascinating area to collect. The attempt by Putin and the Russian Army to bludgeon Ukraine into submission is a hangover from…

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EXHIBTION Falklands War commemorated at IWM Imperial War Museum is to exhibit Falklands collection items for the first time to mark 40th anniversary of the conflict from 2 April. The story and legacy of the Falklands Conflict will also be explored through a digital programme, including a new episode of IWM’s Conflict of Interest podcast featuring actor Katherine Parkinson. New exhibits at IWM London will highlight eyewitness accounts of the conflict. Images by photographer Paul RG Haley, who covered the conflict for Soldier magazine, will also be on display. His photographs reflect the varied experiences of British and Argentinian forces on the Islands and capture pivotal moments in the campaign, such as the landings at San Carlos and the advance to Port Stanley. Many of Haley’s photographs have never been…

A vehicle equipped with specialist radar equipment is set to survey 20km of streets around York over the summer – the first time a project on this scale has been undertaken in the UK. The team behind the scheme are working to access as much of the city centre road network as possible, including some pedestrianised streets, during the survey. Alongside the road surveys, a radar system will scan the green spaces in the city centre, particularly around the Yorkshire Museum and York Minster. The initiative is a joint project between Universities of Cambridge and Reading, York Archaeology and the York Museums Trust funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The 30 month long project aims to collate everything archaeologists and historians know about the whole of Roman…

The Chalke Valley History Festival is set to return from 20-26 June this summer and promises to be more exciting and interactive than ever before. Visitors will be able to listen to world-class speakers, and to watch demonstrations given by living historians. Household names like travel writer Colin Thubron will take to the stage in one of the big speaker tents, whilst children experience the thrill of driving the 1930s dodgems or riding on the big wheel at the vintage fairground. A new Speaker’s Corner tent, where visitors of all ages can listen to shorter but highly informative talks in a more informal atmosphere, is being introduced for the first time. There will be more living activities than ever before, highlights including a spectacular Restoration Pageant on both the Saturday…

As a father of three daughters, it would be remiss of me to not talk about women’s contribution to the war effort. Without women working in ammunition factories, the aviation industry and of course the Women’s Land Army there would have been a very different outcome to both WWI and WWII. The Women’s Land Army (WLA) made a significant contribution to boosting Britain’s food production during WWII, before then Britain had imported much of its food. When war broke out, it was necessary to grow more food at home and increase the amount of land in cultivation. With many male agricultural workers joining the armed forces, women were needed to provide a new rural workforce. The WLA had originally been set up in 1917 but disbanded at the end of…