The Armourer October 2022

This month’s cover feature takes us back to the 1980s and the US invasion of Grenada. This was an interesting, if short, campaign, for a number of reasons. Firstly, there was the spectre of another Iran-style hostage crisis as there were hundreds of American students on the island when a coup deposed the government. The American administration of Ronald Reagan was already getting twitchy about the building of a large runway, suspecting that it could be used as a staging post for Soviet/Cuban troops so when the government was overthrown the alarm bells started ringing. While other Caribbean countries asked the US for help, Reagan’s stalwart ally in the West, Margaret Thatcher was strictly opposed to military intervention for two reasons. Firstly, the country was a member of the Commonwealth…

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Imperial War Museums (IWM) announced that Dame Diane Lees will be stepping down as Director-General on 31 March 2023. Diane Lees joined IWM in 2008 and became the Museums’ first female Director-General since it was founded in 1917. Over the course of her 14-year leadership, she has led IWM through one of the most transformative periods in its 105-year history, redeveloping its branches through more than £90 million of investment. She placed IWM at the forefront of the nation’s First World War Centenary Commemorations with the opening of IWM London’s groundbreaking First World War Galleries in 2014 and the co-commissioning of Peter Jackson’s critically acclaimed documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old. She led the redevelopment of IWM Duxford’s American Air Museum in 2016 and the recent completion of IWM London’s…

A collectables store in Morpeth New South Wales, 100 miles northeast of Sydney, currently displaying Nazi memorabilia in its window, has sparked outrage in the Jewish community and ignited calls for a nationally consistent approach to outlawing the sale of Nazi symbols in Australia. Vic Alhadeff, a prominent member of the Jewish community was quoted in The Australian newspaper, for Wednesday 20 July 2022, saying that the display was: ‘Objectionable. Twenty-seven thousand Australia soldiers lost their lives fighting Nazi Germany. Whilst the swastika and the evil it represents are an integral part of history, there is a difference between the responsible sales of such memorabilia and the promotion of its horrendous message’. Campbell’s Store is well known as an antique and art centre featuring 25 dealers. Australian Anti-Defamation Commission Chairman,…

See the world’s only running Tiger I tank in action during its last outing of 2022, at Tiger Day, 17 September at The Tank Museum. Tiger 131 runs only twice a year, on Tiger Day in April and September, and always attracts huge crowds when it does. Visitors will have the chance to see it in action in a 45-minute WWII tank display, including its Fury movie co-star, the Sherman tank ‘Fury’. As well as an action-packed arena display, including the Panzer III, Comet, Chaffee and more, visitors will be able to get up close to vehicles in the Tank Park and explore militaria traders amongst the Museum collection. The Tank Museum is also giving Tiger fans the chance to win a ride in its most famous exhibit in a…

It’s often said, if you want to get ahead, get a hat and that’s what I’m talking about this month. I’m particularly fond of hats, as you’ve no doubt heard me whittering on about, but here’s a few choice examples for your perusal. I’m not a fan of mint, unissued items so this visor cap is a perfect example of a combat-worn example that really talks to you. It’s a Luftwaffe officer’s visor cap with lovely signs of wear and discolouration. Constructed of smooth dark-grey wool with a black woven ribbon cap band and leather peak. Featuring three bands of woven, silver Waffenfarbe piping at the top, middle, and bottom, with a silver bullion chin strap. Stitched onto the band is a hand-embroidered silver aluminium wire tri-colour cockade, flanked on…