Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum

T

he museum collection was begun in 1927, when it was housed with the headquarters of the Gloucestershire Regiment at Horfield Barracks in Bristol. In 1980, having spent the previous 30 years located in Westgate Street, Gloucester, it was moved again to the former Custom House in Gloucester Docks, and the new museum was formally opened by HRH The Duke of Gloucester. It was significantly remodelled in the late ’80s, reopening on 24 June 1990, and was further refurbished with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund in the new millennium, reopening again on 14 April 2014. The museum tells the story of two regiments of the British Army, the Gloucestershire Regiment, including its antecedents the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot, and the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, both of which recruited heavily from Gloucestershire and Bristol.

The items on display have been accumulated over the last 300 years and exhibits include life size dioramas, sound effects, archive film and many fixed displays reflecting campaigns in the Napoleonic Wars, The First Anglo-Sikh War, Second Anglo-Sikh War, The Indian Mutiny, The Boer War, The First World War, The Second World War, The Korean War (including The Battle of the Imjin River), and peace keeping duties in Cyprus, Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland. Since amalgamation in 1994, first into the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and then into The Rifles, the museum has maintained the currency of its exhibits and current campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan are also represented.

The Victoria Crosses of Herbert Taylor Reade of the 61st Regiment, and Daniel Burges and James Carne, both of the Gloucestershire Regiment, are held by the Museum.

The library and archives of the Gloucestershire Regiment are also housed in the same building and may be viewed by prior appointment.

The museum also has its own website offering on-line databases, including details of approximately 10,000 soldiers from the 18th and 19th centuries, 43,000 individuals who served in World War I, and 12,000 artefacts with images and descriptions.

The museum continues to receive new exhibits and the most recent significant acquisition is a service revolver collected from Gloster Hill, where the Glosters made their last stand on 25 April 1951 at the culmination of the Battle of the Imjin River.