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ISSUE 05 OCTOBER 2010 MAGAZINE16Armures et decorsmanieristesFrançais Styrian Armoury

Graz

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Conference 2010Dublin

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Belgians can do tooBrussels

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ICOMAM – the International Committee of Museums ofArms and Military History - is an International Committee ofICOM – the International Council of Museums.

It provides a forum for museums worldwide:• To encourage scientific research about arms and

armour and military collections, both in specialised andgeneral museums and in military collections.

• To stimulate a proper, professional standard of collectioncare, management, conservation and use in line withinternationally recognised good practice and ICOMguidelines.

• To promote the highest standards in display andinterpretation.

• To encourage networking and partnerships betweenmuseums and research the world over.ICOMAM achieves its goal by holding triennial

congresses and intermediate symposia on relevant topics.ICOMAM has over 260 members, representing museums

in more than 50 countries world-wide, including suchfamous institutions as the Royal Armouries of Leeds, theFrench Musée de l'Armée, the Metropolitan Museum of Art,The Musée de l'Armée et d'Histoire Militaire in Brussels, theHofjagd- und Rüstkammer of Vienna, the Real Armeria ofMadrid, the Topkapi Sarayi Museum in Istanbul.Membership has increased over the past ten years includinga larger share of museums outside of Europe and America.Also some so-called Battlefield Museums are members ofthis international contact group.

ICOMAM is directed by an International ruling bodycalled the Executive Board. The ICOMAM approach to theconservation and study of relevant artefacts is scientific,dispassionate, objective and humanistic. It aims to assessthe importance of weaponry in world history as a majorsociological phenomenon touching on all the aspects ofpolitics, economics and social behaviour including itsartistic spin-offs and its relationship with our culturalheritage and its interpretation in the world today.http://www.klm-mra.be/icomam/

Hawthorne CottageMoorfield RoadLEEDSLS12 3SEUK

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© Individual authors, Institutionsand ICOMAM, 2010

Published byin association with ICOMAM

ICOM is the international organisation of museums andmuseum professionals which is committed to theconservation, continuation and communication to society ofthe world's natural and cultural heritage, present andfuture, tangible and intangible.http://icom.museum/

ISSUE 05 MAGAZINE 3

Welcome to the fifth edition ofMAGAZINE – the newsletter ofICOMAM, the InternationalCommittee of Museums of Armsand Military History, published toinform members of its activitiesand publicize these to the widerworld.For our fifth edition of the ICOMAMMagazine we asked colleagues tonominate objects which wereimportant to them or theirinstitutions. The variety ofresponses shows how wide theinterests of our members are –we hope you enjoy reading aboutthem.

Among a range of news,articles and publications, we alsohave a reminder of this summer’sconference in Dublin and a tasterfor ICOMAMs conference next yearin Graz – the call for papers isincluded.

Our next edition will be in April2011 and we are planning toinclude features on museums andnew technologies – from Twitterand Facebook to the nowtraditional website and database.

Robert Douglas SmithRuth Rhynas Brown

EDITORS

Contents

12 20 28

News ......................0404 ICOMAM News

05 A final word from Chairman Guy

07 ICOMAM Elections

08 The Styrian Armoury Graz

11 Does war belong in museums?

12 Conference 2010

14 News from the National Museumof the United States Air Force

16 Armures et decorsmanieristes Français

Exhibitions ..............2020 Exhibitions at the Army Museum

in Stockholm

22 Belgians Can Do Too

24 50 years of operations -Protection and Help

Publications ............2626 Justus Lipsius Award

27 The Vauxhall Operatory –A Century of Inventions beforethe Scientific Revolution

Feature ...................2828 Objects of desire

Articles ...................3838 Sikh Armour at the Royal

Engineers Museum

39 By wisdom and by hand:A Dutch cannon in Jodhpur

42 German mobilisation of Slovenes

45 Colonel Archibald Henderson’sPresentation Sword

49 The cannon of St. Eustatius

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News

Executive BoardchangesIt has been a busy summer. At our conference in June inDublin – see page 12 - elections took place for the Executive

Board. Guy Wilson, chair of ICOMAM for the last eight yearshas retired and Piet de Gryse of the Royal Military Museum inBrussels has taken over the reins. These changes take effectfrom the ICOM General Assembly to be held in Shanghai inNovember 2010 – see page 7 for full details.

ICOMAM NEWS

Conference 2011At the Dublin meeting it was agreed that next year’s

conference will be held at the Styrian Armoury in Graz,in association with the Museum Academy. The theme for theconference will be ‘Does war belong in museums?’ though,as is our usual practice, papers on all aspects of the work ofICOMAM are always welcome. See page 8 for details.

Justus Lipsius Award

Every three years ICOMAM awardsthe Justus Lipsius award for

published or unpublished works on atheme linked to the activities ofICOMAM. The award is worth 2,500euros to the winning author – fordetails see page 26.

The ICOMAM websiteICOMAM’s website is hosted by the Royal Armouries inBrussels and includes details of ICOMAM’s activities.

We are always trying to widen and increase our readershipand impact and want to encourage all our membermuseums to include a link on their website or Facebookpages. Also please tell your Museum Friends about us andwhere to get hold of the MAGAZINE.See http://www.klm-mra.be/icomam

News

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News

A final word from Chairman GuyGuy Wilson, Chairman IAMAM/ICOMAM 2002-10

The new Executive Board and Chairman are ready andwaiting to take over the reins and all I have left to do is to

attend my last ICOM Advisory Council meeting and GeneralAssembly - at the conference in Shanghai in November. Bythen I shall have transferred 25 kilos of files to the ICOMarchives in Delft and returned home, perhaps with a badback but with a lighter step.

It was back in Oslo in the summer of 2002 that I waselected Chairman of IAMAM as we then were. It seems along time ago and much has happened in between. I havechanged from a museum director to a consultant andIAMAM has changed into ICOMAM, a full internationalcommittee of ICOM. This change has not been without itscritics and all of us involved have had our own concerns overit from time to time. It is not easy to give up freedoms andsubmit to the ways of big international organisations. Thereare inevitably losses as well as gains. We were, though, alldetermined that in making the change we would not losethe unique warmth and friendship and humour that hadalways been the hallmark of IAMAM. I believe that in that wehave all succeeded. And what we have gained has been veryvaluable. We have gained additional sources of income thathave helped to sustain our increasing activities and make usfinancially stable. We have also gained not only many newfriends and allies but also the support of the only

international body that can attempt to represent all theworld’s museums.

Because of these changes I believe that ICOMAM todayis a stronger and better organisation now than IAMAM was adecade ago. However, despite a healthly bank balance,despite all those new friends, despite an exciting forwardprogramme of meetings, there are still a few problems wehaven’t solved. As with ICOM as a whole, we do not have asmany members from developing countries as we shouldlike. We have begun to work on this but this has yet to bearmuch fruit. Even in our heartland of Europe we have failed

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to heal the splits that occurred years ago that led to ourcolleagues from the Mediterranean countries leaving us.Much of this was due to fears that the “military wing” wasbecoming too dominant and swamping the “arms andarmour wing.” I don’t really accept that view, but even if youdo, surely leaving can only help to make the fear a reality.It seems to me that staying involved, and giving papers andsuggesting themes for subjects that interest you, is a muchsurer way of redressing any possible imbalance. However, itis probably true that we haven’t done enough to encouragethose who left to return, and that is something that I regretand that I hope my successor will be able to achieve.

Not only do we find it difficult to engage museums inparts of Europe and from the poorer parts of the world but,we also find it difficult to develop long-term members fromthe very many very small museums that deal with oursubjects. As for the museums of developing nations so forthe smallest regimental museums the funds just do notexist to allow regular attendance at our meetings. Ourincreasingly healthy finances may help us in future to domore to help them with grants but, as well as this, I suspectthat we need to learn to use modern technologies better sowe can reach out to each other and talk to each other moreeasily from our own offices and studies. And, as well asproblems with the poorest and smallest of museums wehave also had some with the wealthiest and biggest It issadly true that over the years some of the major museumsin the world with arms and armour or military collectionshave not been as involved with us as they might have been.Recently this has been brought into focus for me by theresignation from our Board of Christine Jaquemart of theMusée de l’Armée in Paris. Here is a major museum that weneed to be involved and that has performed a very importantservice for us over the last few years which can only be donefrom Paris - liaising with the ICOM Secretariat. Fortunatelyher Director, our good friend General Bresse, is aware ofour need, is ready to help and is trying to find a replacementfrom among his staff. But this incident has made me think

more about the number of large museums that were onceactively involved in IAMAM or ICOMAM but aren’t now.Should we not be making every attempt to win them back,both to help the other, smaller military and arms museumsand to help themselves? For, however big they are, theycan’t solve all of problems that the coming years will throwat them. Take, for instance, our work monitoring andinfluencing international legislation on arms issues. This is

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an area where our type of museums are very vulnerable toill-though out laws that may prevent us from doing our jobsproperly or even continuing to collect some sorts of items.Individual museums cannot do much to influenceinternational policy makers. Nor could IAMAM on its own.That was one of the major reasons we became a fullcommittee of ICOM, so that we could get the full weight ofthe international museum movement behind us. And it isworking. As part of ICOM we are now recognised by theUnited Nations as an NGO that can participate fully inconferences and consultations. That work takes time and ittakes considerable funds. If we succeed it will benefit allmuseums in our sector. So, Isn’t it time that we persuadedthe bigger museums to roll up their sleeves and starthelping? Our job is surely first to encourage them to do soand then to welcome them back with our customarywarmth.

There is then, a bit for the new team to do, and I wishthem well. I have enjoyed almost every moment of myChairmanship and have felt it a rare privilege to be able toserve so many of my friends and colleagues for the pasteight years. To all those on successive Executive Boards whohave done the real work over that time I say the biggestpossible thank you. To Piet de Gryse, who has been the bestpossible Treasurer I extend all good wishes for his term asChairman. It is good to step down knowing that you arepassing on somethingyou love and treasureto hands far safer andmore capable thanyour own. All that isleft for me to do is tocontinue to enjoy allthe comradeship andfun of ICOMAM for, Ihope, very many yearsto come.With very best wishesto you all

ICOMAM ElectionsGuy Wilson and Piet de Gryse

During the last ICOMAM symposium organised by LarJoye and his team and hosted by the Irish National

Museum, elections were held for a new ICOMAM ExecutiveBoard for the period 2010 – 2013. For those who couldn’tattend the meeting, a postal vote was organised by MathieuWillemsen, acting secretary, by sending out anonymousvoting forms to all members.

In total, 73 members or institution membersparticipated in the ballot, either by post or in person at thepolling station. Respecting the existing ICOMAMconstitution, the following Board members had to step downafter fulfilling their legal mandate of 2 x 3 years: SergeBernier (Dept of National Defence, Ottawa – Canada), Pietde Gryse (Royal Military Museum, Brussels – Belgium), OleFrantzen (Tojhusmuseet, Copenhagen – Denmark), NilsDrejholt (Royal Armoury, Stockholm – Sweden), GraemeRimer (Royal Armouries, Leeds – United Kingdom). GuyWilson, ICOMAM chairman since 2003, could not continueeither as he had reached the end of his maximum term.

The ad hoc electoral committee (Bob Smith, SergeBernier and Olé Frantzen) had the difficult task of countingall votes and announcing the results. Piet de Gryse waselected Chairman for the next three years and the followingwere elected as members of the new Executive Board:Armando de Senna Bittencourt (Museu Naval, Rio deJaneiro – Brazil), Eva-Sofia Ernstel (Army Museum,Stockholm – Sweden), Alfred Geibig (Veste Coburg, Coburg –Germany), Christine Jacquemart (Musée de l’Armée, Paris –France), Christian Ortner (Austrian Army Museum, Vienna –Austria), Kenneth Lee Smith-Christmas (National Museumof the U.S. Army, Fort Belvoir Virginia - United States ofAmerica), Guy Vadeboncœr (Stewart Museum at the Fort,Montreal – Canada), Mathieu Willemsen (Dutch Army andWeapons Museum, Delft – the Netherlands) and BobWoosnam-Savage (Royal Armouries, Leeds - UnitedKingdom). The new Board will take office after the ICOMGeneral Assembly in Shanghai (China) in November 2010.

During a joint meeting of the old and new Boards at theend of the Dublin Conference, chaired by Guy Wilson (as Pietde Gryse was absent due to illness), Mathieu Willemsen wasconfirmed as Secretary. At one of its forthcoming meetingsthe new Board has to decide who will take over from Piet deGryse as Treasurer. Sadly, due to a change of the policy ofher museum towards ICOM and ICOMAM ChristineJaquemart has resigned from the Board.

On behalf of the whole membership, we should like tothank all the retiring ICOMAM officers for the great effortsthey have made on our behalf over their years of service. Weconfidently expect that the new Board will continue theirwork in that excellent spirit of energetic and jovial co-operration, which is so typical of the former IAMAM and nowof ICOMAM.

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The Styrian Armoury –deathless husks of human conflictsDaniela Assel, Sabine Fauland

Among the 21 departments and institutions of theJoanneum Universal Museum, founded as the

Joanneum in 1811, the Armoury is in a class of its own.Attracting around 55,000 visitors annually, it is theJoanneum’s most-visited institution without an exhibitionsrole. Moreover, as the largest historic armoury in the world,it is a living memorial to a chequered, conflict-ridden past,whose bogeymen and prejudices are still with us.

The Styrian Armoury in GrazGraz had three armouries. The city had one, as did the rulerof Styria, but it was Styria itself that had the largestarmoury. The Styrian Armoury still occupies its historiclocation, and houses an inventory of 32,000 individual piecesaccumulated over a period of three centuries.

It was the need to defend the frontier marches from the15th to the 17th century that prompted the establishment ofthe present Armoury. As a frontier province, Styria wasconstantly threatened with attack from the east. The genesisof an armoury for the estates of the realm can be dated tothe late 15th century.

The oldest surviving inventory dates from 1557, andalready included 19,400 items. In 1567, a regional armourerwas appointed to look after and administer the equipment.On the death of Emperor Ferdinand I in 1564, the HabsburgEmpire was divided up among his sons, whereuponArchduke Charles II of Inner Austria (the Habsburgheartlands) took up residence in Graz. Now that it was a

residence city, Graz needed greater protection. The cityfortifications were strengthened and stocks of weaponswere augmented. The latter were stored for the time beingin various makeshift armoury sheds and vaults around theparliament (Landhaus) and the city gates. By 1629, 85,000items were stockpiled this way, though of course it wasimpossible to maintain any proper order. Centralisedsafekeeping only became possible with the construction ofthe present Armoury by master builder Antonio Solar in1642-44. A passage to the Landhaus was completed in 1645,and the stocks were finally moved in during 1647.

With the Treaty of Karlowitz, concluded in 1699, whichended the perpetual conflict with the Ottoman Turks, themap of Eastern Europe was rearranged. Notably, the wholeof Hungary including Transylvania was ceded to Austria, sothat Styria ceased to be a Habsburg frontier province andthus lost its strategic military importance. By that date, theArmoury had 185,000 items in its inventory. With the Turkishwars finally over, the Armoury lost its role as the mostimportant military supplies base for the frontier, now onlysupplying weapons to combat Kurucz uprisings in Hungary.

During a reform of military administration, MariaTheresa (reigned 1740-1780) wanted to shut down theStyrian Armoury completely. Serviceable equipment wouldbe handed over to the court’s military council, while obsoleteweapons could be sold for scrap. However, the Styrianestates insisted that the Armoury had both material andsentimental value for them and should be preserved as a

ISSUE 05 MAGAZINE 9

monument to Styria’s past. Their petition was accepted andthe Armoury was left intact, although it was kept almostentirely decommissioned. But not entirely or permanentlydecommissioned – weapons were needed time and again,the last occasion being the revolution in 1848.

From armoury to museumAfter decommissioning, the building was given a makeoverin the decorative style so beloved of the Late Baroqueperiod. Weapons and armour were removed from their

original locations and turned into objets d’art, for exampleas pyramids and columns, or were tastefully arranged intolarge displays for the walls and ceilings. The visual aspectwas emphasized, rather in the manner of curio cabinets andkunstkammer. One result of this new function was that thefinest suits of armour were arbitrarily identified with Styrianmilitary heroes and rulers. The collection thus became amonument to Styrian military prowess, a hall of fame tohome-bred heroism without any regard for historicalsubstance.

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In 1807, there were plans for a major reconstruction.Floors would be torn up to create grand hall-like rooms sothat the objects could be better displayed. The projectfoundered not just on the opposition of reputableantiquarians but also a shortage of funds.

In the 19th century, when a real appreciation of historycame into its own, the historical and sentimental value of theArmoury was recognized, and steps were taken to restore itto its original condition. In 1879, Dr Fritz Pichler and Franz,Count Meran were commissioned to dismantle the dilettantecurio-cabinet and kunstkammer display of (by then) 57purely decorative arrangements of weapons. The new displaythey set up was more akin to the original 17th centurysystem, and thorough restoration was put in hand. In 1882,the building was opened to the public, and in 1892 it wasabsorbed into what is now the Joanneum Universal Museum.

The disastrous economic conditions post World War Ibrought new dangers, with the Styrian government almostselling some particularly valuable pieces. Fortunately, thetrustees of the Joanneum museum managed to dissuadethe politicians involved from taking the proposal any further.

During World War II, the entire contents were moved tosafety in three castles in remote parts of Styria, and nolosses were recorded. With the support of the occupyingBritish army, after the war the historic weapons werebrought back to the Armoury, which reopened in April 1946.

Among the 32,000 objects in the Armoury today are notonly suits of armour but also handguns, bladed weapons,halberds and pikes plus accessories, all ready for instantuse and witnesses to the everyday reality of the past andthe evolution of war. Styria’s armies included both infantryand cavalry, and on show in the Armoury in their originalstate there are examples of all the different kinds ofequipment that they used in the Turkish wars in the16th/17th centuries.

Spreading the interestThe Styrian Armoury is one of Graz’s prime touristichighlights. But the Armoury’s finest pieces are also

eminently ‘exportable’, and during the 1990s went on tourround the globe in the Imperial Austria show, with stops atthe Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco and Houston, theIBM Gallery in New York and the Smithsonian Institute inWashington. Overall, the show of Styria’s military pastattracted over 1.1m visitors in the USA. In Canada, 1.7mvisitors saw the ‘Styrian knights’ in Quebec City and Ottawa,while in Australia, where the lansquenets also made a stop,200,000 visitors came and were impressed.

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Save the date –and a call for papers

Joanneum UniversalMuseum conferenceA joint event of the Styrian Armoury, the MuseumAcademy and ICOMAM21–23 September 2011, Graz, Austria

In 2011, the Joanneum Universal Museum will becelebrating its 200th anniversary. The Styrian Armoury is

one of the oldest and historically most interestingcollections in the Joanneum, with the greatest appeal to abroad public. In the bicentennial year, the Armoury isorganizing a conference where discussion will focus on theway war and violence are featured in museums generally,but also on the Armoury itself, which is looking for new,analytical and discursive modes of interaction for its“depository” and historical exhibits.

Presentations of war and violence in museumsgenerally oscillate between the fascination of terror and itsinstruments and the didactic urge to explain violence and,by analysing it, make it easier to handle and prevent. Themuseums concerned also have to face up to these basicissues about the social and institutional handling of warand violence.

Does war really belong in museums? And if it does, whatobjectives and means are involved? Can museums avoidtrivializing and aestheticising war, transforming violence,injury, death and trauma into tourist sights? What images ofshock or identification does one generate – and whatimages would be desirable? Can anything of the dialectic offriend and foe be made accessible? Is it ultimately aboutfrightening off, warning, pondering and shocking? Aboutemotional manipulation, comparing, historicizing andlearning? About keeping a sense of detachment inmuseums, maybe defusing? Or what?

For further information contact:Sabine Fauland, Universalmuseun JoanneumMuseumsakademie JoanneumSchloss Eggenberg, Eggenberger Allee 90,8020 Graz, [email protected]

Does war belong in museums?How can we avoid making fetishes of things and

documents? How can we relativise and break the spell offascination that weapons obviously exercise? Whatstrategies are there for specialist museums, what do theyaim to achieve, and how to they come across?

The Styrian Armoury has been a museum since the late19th century, and is a special case of an authentic armourythat has survived largely intact. It is an ensemble that wasbuilt up over a long period, and thus has a specificdocumentary value and aesthetic appeal that appears tooverlay all other functions and questions. In such a context,should the conference also deal with the question of whetherit is necessary and desirable in the first place for collectionsof this kind to go beyond the historical significance, revisitingit and reinterpreting it? Discussion will touch on theexpectations of visitors and effects that such a literallyweapons-heavy collection can have, and also the views ofcurators of the collections and museums concerned.

You are cordially invited to respond to the call for papers.The closing date for submissions is 30th November

2010. Contributions to the conference are anticipated to beup to 30 minutes long, followed by 15 minutes of discussion.

The final design of the conference will be fixed inNovember 2010. Information about the programme will besent in good time in answer to all submissions.

Submissions should include the working title, an outlineproposal (max. 1 page) and a brief CV.

Under Dr Wolfgang Muchitsch, director of theJoanneum and head of the Armoury, foreign tours havebeen resumed. Brief exhibitions in Cleveland/Ohio in 2008and the Tinguely Museum in Basle in 2009 each attractedaround 50,000 visitors within only a few weeks, indicatingthat the appeal of the objects is not a whit diminished. Thenext foray of the Armoury’s suits of armour and weaponrywill be to Osaka in Japan.

Thinking forward in Jubilee Year 2011In 2011, the Joanneum celebrates its bicentenary. This alsooffers an occasion for the Armoury to take a topical look atits past. As a tourist sight and museum with high publicappeal, it testifies to events of war in an apparently long-

vanished age, though its concepts frequently resound withthe present day. Four storeys of historical presentationhardly leave room for interventions and any moderngrappling with traditional narratives. Any analysis of imagesof friend and foe – the ‘bulwark against the East’ – alsopresupposes an interest in the issue of how far war belongsin a museum. That is why the Armoury is hosting aninternational conference on the subject in the bicentenarymonth of September 2011, in an endeavour to find solutionsand answers to this question.

In the 21st century, the Armoury will continue its questto put its historic contents to use in presenting history in anup-to-date, awareness-raising, transparent andinterdisciplinary way.


News

Conference 2010Dublin

Above: Collins Barracks

Top right: Lar Joye welcoming the delegates to Dublin

Above right:Lauri Haavisto of the Artillery Museumof Finland

Right: Delegates being welcomed to the ChesterBeatty Library

Below left: Christine Jacquemart and Serge Bernierenjoying the sun

Below centre: Enjoying a quiet moment

Below right: Enjoying traditional Irish fare


Above: Kilmainham Gaol

Below: A demonstration at the site of the Battle of the Boyne

Bottom left: David Blackmore and Bob Brooker inspecting the kitat the site of the Battle of the Boyne

Bottom centre: ‘Surely he’s too young to be playing with guns?’

Bottom right: The Gala Dinner

Right: Closing remarks from our outgoing Chairman, Guy Wilson


News

Daughter of legendary fighterpilot visits National Museum ofthe US Air Force

Christina Olds, the daughter of the late triple ace and AirForce Cross recipient Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, visited the

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force to see her father’s F-4C Phantom, which is on display in the museum’s ModernFlight Gallery, before attending a book signing appearancein Dayton.

‘I love this place,’ said Christina. ‘The first time that Isaw my father’s F-4 was in 2001 before he was inducted intothe National Aviation Hall of Fame, and that was veryemotional and impressive, but what has happened to mesince then makes it much more meaningful.’

And much has happened since 2001. During World WarII, her father, Robin Olds, quickly became a double acecredited with 12 aerial victories and a squadron commanderat the age of 22. During the Southeast Asia War, hecommanded the famous 8th Tactical Fighter Wing andbecame the first Air Force pilot to score four combat

victories with F-4s in Southeast Asia. In 2007, Gen. Oldspassed away before he was able to write his memoirs.

‘When I was living with him in his last six months, hetalked about how sad he was that he hadn’t finished hismemoirs and I said, “Don’t worry, daddy, I’ll finish them foryou,”’ said Christina. ‘And he said, “Alright young lady, thenthat’s an order!”’

Christina always had an inkling that she would end upwriting her father’s story. What he did write was in bits andpieces and not in chronological order. Then, in 1995, hestopped writing altogether because he just did not want tosit in front of a computer.

‘He wanted to be out living life and traveling around -visiting pilots, going to reunions and giving speeches - whichhe did all over the world,’ said Christina.

Last April, her hard work paid off and a book titledFighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds by

News from the National Museumof the United States Air ForceDayton, Ohio

Christina Olds, daughter of the late triple ace and Air Force Crossrecipient Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, touches her father's F-4CPhantom II at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Photo:U.S. Air Force.


News

China National AviationCorporation exhibit now openat National Museum of theU.S. Air Force

The First Over the ‘Hump:’ The China National AviationCorporation exhibit is located in the museum’s Air Power

Gallery. It tells the story of CNAC’s pioneering search for airroutes over the Himalaya Mountains between China andIndia, known in history as the ‘Hump.’ CNAC’s great successin finding these vital air routes led to the first regular flightsover the Himalaya Mountains. Joining with the Air TransportCommand, CNAC became a vital partner in the world’s firststrategic airlift. Between April 1942 and August 1945, CNACcrews are reported to have flown over 38,000 missionstransporting 10 percent of all cargo and personnel over theHump to Allied Forces in China, Burma and India.

For their contributions to the war effort, CNAC aircrewswere granted veteran status in 1993 and awarded all dueawards and decorations, including the Victory Medal, AirMedal and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

‘The Allied success in winning World War II was a resultof successfully mobilizing and utilizing all available strategicassets, including commercial airlines,’ said Terry Aitken, themuseum’s senior curator. ‘The experiences of World War IIand the Berlin Airlift compelled the U.S. to create the CivilReserve Air Fleet – aircraft from U.S. airlines that supportDepartment of Defense airlift requirements in emergencies.This exhibit is an opportunity for the museum toacknowledge the accomplishments of the CNAC veteransand their place in history.’

The exhibit includes several interesting artefacts, suchas a khaki bush jacket donated by Capt. Fletcher ‘Christy’Hanks, who crossed the Hump 347 times during World WarII, and a CNAC lighter and custom-made utility knifedonated by Capt. Gifford Bull, who is credited with 252Hump flights.

‘On the opening of the exhibit, I pay tribute to those whomade great contributions and sacrifices,’ Peng Keyu, ConsulGeneral of the People’s Republic of China in New York,wrote in a letter that was read during the ceremony. ‘Theexhibit will pass on to the younger generation the legacy offriendship between the Chinese and American people.’More information and photos of this exhibit are available at:http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=17136

Southeast Asia War exhibit areato be renovated at NationalMuseum of the U.S. Air Force

In preparation for the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. AirForce campaign during the Southeast Asia War, the

National Museum of the United States Air Force will beginrenovating the Southeast Asia War portion of its ModernFlight Gallery on 19 August. The improved exhibit space willreopen in three phases, with the final phase scheduled toopen in the spring of 2012. Throughout the renovation, theremay be limited access to aircraft and other exhibits.

Two aircraft – the De Havilland C-7A and Martin EB-57B– have been temporarily removed from display forrestoration work. The aircraft are being repainted as theyappeared while serving in Southeast Asia.

Please watch the museum’s website,www.nationalmuseum.af.mil, for updates.

The National Museum of the United States Air Force islocated on Springfield Street, six miles northeast ofdowntown Dayton.It is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.(closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day).Admission and parking are free.

Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus was released by St. Martin’sPress. The book is now in its fourth printing. According toChristina, writing the book has helped to increase herunderstanding of who her father was and the significance ofhis many accomplishments.

‘(My appreciation) is completely deeper now,’ saidChristina. ‘I was proud of him before but now knowing whathe did and how it affected all of the pilots he flew with, whathe meant to people and understanding what he did inVietnam is just so overwhelming for me.’

Looking to better tell the story of all those who fought inVietnam, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force plans torenovate the Southeast Asia Gallery, which will include anew Robin Olds exhibit in the spring of 2011, said museumresearch historian Jeff Duford. Items on display will includea flying helmet, flying suit, parachute harness, and aircrewsurvival knife used by Olds.

His personal story, including Olds' considerableleadership role commanding the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing;his part in forming a prominent veterans group known as theRiver Rats; and one of his greatest achievements, “OperationBolo,” will be featured in the new Southeast Asia Gallery.Operation Bolo was a wildly successful operation that useddeception to lure the enemy into a trap that saw half of theirMiG-21 force shot down with no Air Force losses.

‘Operation Bolo was so clever that it has become anessential strategy and tactics lesson that is required studyfor military personnel to this day,’ said Duford.

But for now, Christina is taking one more look at theaircraft her father flew, and the memories start to sharpenback into focus.

‘I can still visualize him standing in front of the F-4 likehe did when we were here before,’ said Christina. ‘He’s notwith us now, but he’s still here and that to me is justphenomenal.’


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Armures et decorsmanieristes FrançaisLe Musée de l’Armée, Paris

Le musée de l’Armée prépare, pour le printemps 2011,une importante exposition qui sera consacrée au

Maniérisme français dans l’art de l’armure.Jusqu’à ce jour, aucune manifestation d’envergure

internationale n’a en effet été consacrée ces pièces issuesdes ateliers français ou dont l’ornementation relève du goûtmaniériste français.

Ces chefs-d’œuvre d’armurerie, plus rares que lespièces italiennes et actuellement dispersés dans denombreuses collections de l’ancien ou du nouveau monde,comptent pourtant parmi les harnois les plus somptueuxjamais produits, que leur ornementation repoussée etciselée avec un extrême raffinement d’après des modèlesissus de l’Ecole de Fontainebleau, élève au rang devéritables pièces d’orfèvrerie.

Les derniers Valois : François Ier, Henri II, Charles IX etHenri III ainsi que le roi de Suède Erik XIV, l’empereur

Maximilien II de Habsbourg, et l’électeur Johann Georg deSaxe ont, parmi d’autres, commandé, acquis et porté cesmerveilleux équipements guerriers, aujourd’hui conservés àParis, Stockholm, Vienne, Dresde, New York, Turin, Leeds,Saint-Pétersbourg… et qui seront pour la première foisprésentés ensemble dans les espaces prestigieux de l’Hôtelnational des Invalides.

Les études sur les artistes de la Renaissance françaiseconnaissent aujourd’hui un incontestable renouveau. Latoute récente exposition consacrée à Jacques Androuet DuCerceau, les recherches en cours sur Etienne Delaune,Jean Cousin le Père, Baptiste Pellerin… renouvellent notreregard sur une des plus foisonnantes périodes de l’artfrançais, révèlent des sources inédites et permettent denouvelles attributions.

L’exposition programmée par le musée de l’Armées’inscrit dans ce mouvement de réévaluation de laproduction artistique française au XVIe siècle, mettant enexergue un domaine moins familier des spécialistes del’ornement ou des historiens du goût : l’art de l’armure. Unde ses principaux enjeux est la confrontation directe desobjets réalisés et conservés jusqu’à nos jours, avec lescroquis, les études, les projets qui ont accompagné ouinspiré chacune des étapes de leur exécution. Grâce auxprêts exceptionnels qui ont été consentis au musée del’Armée, dessins, estampes, œuvres graphiques serontprésentés en regard des pièces métalliques où ces décorssont mis en oeuvre.

Du maniérisme italien à l’émergence d’une école françaiseLe parcours de l’exposition débute vers 1530, à Milan, avecl’émergence d’un nouveau type d’ornementation desarmures de luxe, qualifié alors par les contemporains deGrande Maniera. En 1998, le Metropolitan Museum à NewYork a célébré le talent des armuriers de la famille Negroliet le goût pour les parures guerrières « à l’antique » tandisqu’en 2003, une ambitieuse exposition réalisée par le muséed’Art et d’Histoire de Genève a révélé au grand public lasplendeur des décors maniéristes produits par les ateliersdu nord de l’Italie à partir des années 1530.

Ces décors transposent dans les arts du métal le goûtmaniériste initié par Michel Ange et Raphaël. Les formeslisses et l’acier brillant poli « à blanc », jusque là privilégiés,sont délaissés au profit de décors repoussés, enrichis dedamasquinures précieuses, qui tentent de rivaliser avec lesharnois mythiques des héros de l’Antiquité classique.L’armure aux Lions, issue des collections des RoyalArmouries à Leeds, témoigne de ce goût héroïque.

Les armuriers s’approprient le répertoire décoratif(candélabres, rinceaux peuplés, grotesques…) diffusé par lesgraveurs du cercle de Mantegna ou de l’atelier de Raphaël.Le décor des pilastres des loges du Vatican, réalisé par cedernier, est ainsi transposé dans la damasquinure d’argentde l’armure du Dauphin, futur Henri II de France, œuvre deFrancesco Negroli et dans l’ornementation repoussée ducorselet du Grand Maître de Malte Jean d’Homédès, que l’on


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peut considérer comme la plus ancienne armure françaisedécorée dans le goût maniériste.

Les décors bellifontains, François Ier et Henri IILe chantier du château de Fontainebleau et les échangesentre artistes italiens, flamands ou français venus concourirà son ornementation, donnent naissance à un nouveaurépertoire décoratif, dont la chambre de la reine (1533-1537,aujourd’hui disparue) et surtout la galerie François Ier(1533-1540) réalisée sous la conduite de Rosso Fiorentino,constituent les manifestes.

Ce décor de scènes à l’antique, enserrées dans uncomplexe réseau de cuirs et de rubans, accotées de figuresd’atlantes, de termes ou de captifs, enrichi de guirlandes,de trophées, de chutes de fruits et de mascarons, seretrouve dans quelques rares études de pièces défensivesdestinées au roi François Ier.

Mais il est surtout illustré par les armures réaliséespour son fils Henri II, tel le grand harnois, peut-êtreinachevé, conservé au musée du Louvre, ou l’armureéquestre dite « aux serpents » dont ne subsistent quequelques vestiges mais que le fonds de dessins de laStaatliche Graphische Sammlung à Munich permettra dereconstituer, en grandeur réelle, dans le parcours del’exposition.

Plusieurs écus, attribués à Henri II et conservés enFrance ou à l’étranger, témoignent de la faveur qu’arencontrée ce type d’ornementation au moins jusqu’au règnede Charles IX, comme l’attestent l’écu et le morion d’orémaillé conçus pour ce souverain par l’orfèvre Pierre Redon.

L’armurerie française, hommes et métiersPierre Redon est d’ailleurs le seul artisan français à qui l’onpuisse attribuer avec certitude une œuvre conservée.Pourtant, les archives parisiennes, tourangelles oulyonnaises nous révèlent l’existence de véritables dynastiesqui s’illustrèrent dans l’art de l’armurerie. Cette section del’exposition proposera un regard sur le milieu des « batteurs

d’armures » français, sur les réseaux professionnels ousociaux qui ont structuré cette corporation ou sur lestémoignages, malheureusement ténus, qui permettent decomprendre le fonctionnement de ces ateliers.

Toujours anonymes, les réalisations françaises sedistinguent immédiatement des productions milanaisescontemporaines par la subtilité de leur décor repoussé,capable, malgré un très faible relief, de suggérer lesmoindres nuances de modelé ou les gradations de laperspective. Les dessins de Munich permettent de suivre lesétapes de la conception de cette ornementation et sonadaptation à la forme complexe des pièces d’armure, depuisla première « pensée » jetée à la pierre noire, jusqu’au tracéde référence à la sanguine, détaillant, à l’attention del’armurier, les plus infimes modulations de la ciselure.

Des recherches nouvelles autour de cet exceptionnelensemble de dessins ont été conduites en liaison étroiteavec les équipes scientifiques du musée national de laRenaissance à Ecouen, du musée du Louvre ainsi que del’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. Elles trouveront unécho dans cette manifestation et dans le catalogue quil’accompagnera, lesquels devraient jeter une lumièreinédite sur la participation de certains grands ornemanistesfrançais à ce qui semble bien être un grand atelier royal,d’où seraient sorties plusieurs œuvres prestigieuses.


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« Le cas Eliseus Libaerts » et les ateliers flamandsL’anonymat des maîtres armuriers français a favorisé lafortune critique des rares personnalités à qui il étaitpossible d’attribuer un corpus de réalisations. Tel est le casd’Eliseus Libaerts, armurier et orfèvre anversois ayantparticulièrement oeuvré pour Erik XIV de Suède.Exceptionnellement documentée, cette commande dont unepartie ne fut jamais livrée à son royal commanditaire a pu

être mise en relation avec trois armures conservées àStockholm et à Dresde.

Ces œuvres exceptionnelles sont enrichies d’unfoisonnant décor de grotesques et de rinceaux peuplés, surlesquels se détachent des médaillons cernés de cuirsenroulés où s’inscrivent des scènes de la geste d’Hercule (lemodèle mythologique du souverain suédois), tandis que leslions de Norvège rappellent ses prétentions territoriales.

Paradoxalement, cet Eliseus Libaerts, dont le statutcomme les autres réalisations nous demeurent inconnus,semble avoir été surtout inspiré par des modèles décoratifsou des recueils ornementaux français. Sans que l’on puisseétablir s’il eut des contacts avec le grand atelier royalmentionné plus haut, il partage nombre de motifs avecl’ornemaniste et graveur Etienne Delaune, le plus productifde ces diffuseurs de modèles.

De fait, le nom de Libaerts est encore très souvent citéquand il s’agit d’analyser des objets relevant de ce « goûtmaniériste français », dont il est un incontournablereprésentant. Grâce aux généreuses contributions de laRüstkammer de Dresde et du Livrustkammaren deStockholm, trois pièces de sa main et particulièrement legrand harnois équestre du roi Erik XIV, que l’on peut sansdoute considérer comme l’armure la plus somptueuse jamaisréalisée, seront exceptionnellement présentées à Paris.

Afin d’attester de l’originalité de Libaerts, son œuvresera comparée avec des pièces flamandes contemporaines,dont l’ornementation est directement issue des estampesde ses compatriotes Cornelis Floris ou Cornelis Bos… quelui-même semble paradoxalement ignorer.

Les décors à rinceauxUne grande partie des dessins du fonds de Munich, quireprésentent, avec les armures qui en sont issues, un desaxes de cette exposition, est consacrée à des pièces dontl’ornementation échappe aux modèles bellifontains, mais serattache aux grotesques, rinceaux peuplés et autres

Les dessins de MunichLa mise en évidence d’une « école française » dans l’artde l’armure à décor maniériste doit beaucoup à laprésence, parmi les collections de la StaatlicheGraphische Sammlung à Munich, d’un ensemble de plusde 170 dessins préparatoires à des ornements repousséspour des pièces défensives, qui pourrait provenir dufonds d’un atelier d’envergure ayant travaillé pour lacour de France. Ces patrons d’exécution en grandeurréelle reflètent les différents stades de conception desdécors bellifontains du temps de Henri II ou desornements à rinceaux peuplés prisés chez les derniersValois.

Grâce au soutien du cabinet d’art graphique deMunich, le musée de l’Armée sera en mesure deprésenter une vingtaine de ces feuilles témoignant de lagenèse de ces grands décors princiers, en regard desarmures où ils sont mis en œuvre.


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trophées inspirés des décors de la Domus Aurea de Néron,redécouverte à Rome vers 1480. Ces motifs, popularisés parles graveurs évoluant dans le cercle de Mantegna àMantoue (comme Zoan Andrea, ou Giovanni Antonio daBrescia) ou dans celui de Raphaël à Rome (AgostinoVeneziano ou Enea Vico), ont coexisté avec les cartouchesinscrits dans les cuirs et les jeux de rubans, avant que lesrinceaux peuplés de figures allégoriques, d’animauxfabuleux, ou de termes végétalisés ne recouvrent la totalitéde la surface de l’armure.

L’armure attribuée à Henri II et conservée auMetropolitan Museum à New York appartient à cette série,au même titre que le harnois de l’empereur Maximilien II àVienne ou que celui de Charles IX appartenant auxcollections du musée de l’Armée. A ces trois piècescorrespondent un certain nombre de dessins qui pourraientprovenir d’un atelier unique, ce qui semble paradoxal euégard aux attributions divergentes dont font l’objet cesarmures, considérées pour certaines comme les produitsd’un atelier français, pour d’autres comme des réalisationsd’Eliseus Libaerts.

L’exposition devrait également permettre de mieuxcerner l’influence d’Etienne Delaune, qui était jusque làcrédité, du fait de l’abondance de sa production gravée, de latotalité des décors figurant sur ces pièces, en réévaluant lesrôles de Baptiste Pellerin et surtout de Jean Cousin le Père,que l’on peut sans doute considérer comme le concepteurprincipal des ornements de cet ensemble.

Très apprécié sous les derniers Valois, ce décor àrinceaux est resté jusqu’au début du XVIIe sièclel’ornementation privilégiée par l’armurerie de luxefrançaise, prolongeant le goût maniériste jusqu’à sa dilutiondans les motifs dits « à cosses de pois », à l’honneur sous lerègne de Louis XIII.

Les batailles héroïquesLes rinceaux peuplés n’occupent pas seuls le champ desornements repoussés dans la seconde moitié du XVIe siècle.Un certain nombre de pièces prêtées au musée de l’Arméepermettront d’évoquer les armures, généralement tardives,dont le décor est exclusivement composé de scènes decombat, couvrant la totalité de la surface du harnois defigures de guerriers à l’antique assez hâtivementrepoussées, se poursuivant en de furieuses cavalcades.L’ornemaniste Jean Delaune, fils d’Etienne, semble s’êtreparticulièrement illustré dans ce répertoire martial,dernière tentative de transformer l’armure en un miroir desidéaux héroïques et mythologiques d’une castearistocratique minée par les guerres civiles et les querellesreligieuses.

L’exposition s’achèvera sur le colletin en cuivre du roiLouis XIII, dont le caractère de pur accessoire de parade esttrès représentatif de la décadence de l’art de l’armure dansla première moitié du XVIIe siècle.

Son décor repoussé manifeste cependant, près d’unsiècle après la galerie de Fontainebleau, l’ultime survivance

de ce répertoire ornemental maniériste composé de cuirs,de trophées, de putti et de chutes de fruits, dont l’image dumonarque en armes peine à se détacher.

Les clefs de l’expositionDates : du 15 mars au 25 juin 2011.Lieu : Les salles Turenne et Vauban de l’Hôtel national desInvalides (rez-de-chaussée de l’aile Orient). Il s’agit de deuxanciens réfectoires dont les peintures murales du XVIIesiècle, dues à Jacques Antoine Friquet de Vauroze (1648-1716), viennent de faire l’objet d’une restauration.Superficie de l’exposition : 680 m2.Nombre d’objets exposés : Une centaine de pièces, dont 14armures, 1 armure équestre, 9 défenses de tête, 16 écus etrondaches, 6 armes blanches, 1 pistolet, 4 selles, 2chanfreins et environ 45 oeuvres graphiques, dessins,estampes, peintures, documents d’archives…Principaux prêteurs pressentis : La Staatliche GraphischeSammlung à Munich, les Rüstkammer de Dresde et deVienne, le Metropolitan Museum à New York, leLivrustkammaren à Stockholm et le château de Skokloster,Les Royal Armouries à Leeds, la Reale Armeria à Turin, lemusée de l’Ermitage à Saint-Pétersbourg, le musée duLouvre, le musée des Beaux Arts de Lyon, la Bibliothèquenationale de France, l’Ecole nationale supérieure des BeauxArts, le château de Windsor, le musée de l’Armée polonaiseà Varsovie, le musée national de la Renaissance à Ecouen…Evénements en marge de l’exposition : Colloquescientifique, cycle de conférences, concerts, cycle cinéma,ateliers pédagogiques…


Exhibitions

Bits and piecesbetween life and death1 July – 31 December 2010

For the first time the Army Museum in Stockholm hasproduced a travelling exhibition. The idea came from

Torbjörn Lenskog, a Swedish Art director and a greatcollector and it includes a huge collection of military items.He had earlier made a project called ‘Design with no name’,about trivial ordinary things in everyday life. This is a similaridea. The exhibition includes 1200 items from his privatecollection – items which soldiers carried just as CharlieChaplin carried things he needs as he goes to the war. Theinspiration for the design of the exhibition came frommilitary graveyards where soldiers lie next to each other instrict rows.

On the same type of plan we present 66 showcases, likegravestones, which have glass tops. All the objects have onething in common – they have been near or at the frontline ina war. This raises many questions. Does this fact turn theminto a more loaded object, a more scary or interesting itemthan other things? Why have the soldiers used these things?They are neither uniforms nor weapons but all the otherthings that a soldier needs to make the days a little nicer.

Exhibitions at the Army Museum in Stockholm

And what about their design? French, American and Russianwater bottles – why do they look different? They areobviously made to serve the same purpose?

Among the 1200 items we will find water bottles, foodcans, shaving equipment, records, tea and coffee pots, andhundreds of other amazing bits.

The showcases can travel and are available for loan –please see [email protected] for more informationabout booking and costs. In all it covers 325 square meters.There is also an English catalogue that you can order fromthe Army Museum in Stockholm.

Photo Andrea Belluso

Photo Andrea Belluso


Exhibitions

17 shades of grey17 August 2010 – 8 February 2011

‘17shades of grey’ is the title of our new uniformexhibition. I wrote about ‘Tough and cool’ in the last

issue of the ICOMAM magazine. In August the second partopened and we arranged a spectacular opening ceremony.The Swedish entertainer Babsan (Lars Åke Wilhelmsson) ingrey silver lamé gave a glamorous framing in the greyexhibition area. All the guests were also dressed in grey andearl grey tea was served and grey melancholic music wasplayed. One of the fashion journalists in Stockholm wrotethat this exhibition was the best that had ever happened inthe field of fashion in Sweden. She also demanded that allthose interested in fashion must visit the Army Museum.

We hope that this exhibition will inspire a new audienceto visit the museum. The grey uniforms, displayed onextravagant invisible bodies, are displayed as objects of art.

No More Wars9 September – 8 December 2010

For the first time in Scandinavia the Army Museum is ableto display damaged items from Hiroshima. Small things

with a very frightening story to tell. The two atomic bombsover Nagasaki and Hiroshima destroyed in seconds what hadtaken lifetimes to build. From Hiroshima Peace MemorialMuseum and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum we haveborrowed objects and some photographs. The exhibition isarranged in cooperation with the Scandinavia-JapanSasakawa Foundation (SJFS), in connection with its 25thanniversary. At the same time a conference ‘Towards anuclear free world’ will take place in the museum. Amongspeakers there are two names of extra importance Dr HansBlix, former UN Special Investigator of Nuclear Arms in Iraq,and Ms. Sasamori (survivor) of Surviving the Atomic Bombover Hiroshima Memories and Thoughts. For moreinformation please contact the Museum, there is an exhibitioncathalogue and several activities in the exhibition area.

Since US President Barack Obama gave his speech on a'Nuclear-free world' last April , more people than ever

Photo Torkel Edenborg

before have become interested in nuclear issues around theglobe, and intense debate is now taking place at innumerablemeetings and symposiums. I believe that it is of greatsignificance that the nuclear issue, a defining issue in thehistory of the 21st Century, is being discussed and addressedby so many people worldwide.

On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped onHiroshima. This was the first time ever in history such a bombhad ever been used, and it caused the death of 140,000 people.When visiting Hiroshima in 1981, the late Swedish PrimeMinister Olof Palme said ‘One tends to think of nuclear war asan abstract concept, but here I have experienced it first-hand.’He also said that all heads of state should have to visitHiroshima upon assuming office.

Such 'first hand' experience is regrettably not a part of ourdaily life. Furthermore, no atomic bomb exhibition has beenheld in Scandinavian countries to date

These words were written by Mr Yohei Sasakawa(Chairman, The Nippon Foundation) in the exhibitioncatalogue. This project has been possible by a grant from TheNippon Foundation in Japan.

Why so elegant and why so perfect are issues to discuss.The importance of an Army’s uniforms is as important todayas in older times. We have seen Henry VIII and the exhibitionDressed to Kill and still the dress of an army is part of thebrand for a nation. At the same time as warfare is gettingmore and more international, uniforms are getting moreand more similar and simpler in style.

Only small differences, details and decorations tell uswhere the soldier is from. But in fashion shops, the militarystyle is extremely popular. And this is not the simple style,decorated jackets, T-shirts and even baby clothes have amilitary look. Why we wear clothes that look like elegantmilitary uniforms is interesting. In daily papers there arevoices being raised not to send young persons toAfghanistan. The armed forces are being reduced every year.But more and more persons dress in military design, maybethis is an example of a new demilitarized era - civilians arein charge over military logos, types and brands to makethem less outstanding and important.


Exhibitions

Belgians Can Do TooThe Belgian-LuxembourgBattalion in Korea 1950-55Musée Royal de l’Armée et d’Histoire Militaire,Bruxelles. 5 October 2010 - 31 January 2011

Sixty years ago a war broke out between the communistnorth and the pro-Western south of Korea. That was the

moment when the Cold War turned hot. Did you know thatBelgian Volunteers fought alongside other United Nationstroops in Korea? Together with the Luxembourg detachmentthey formed a respected battalion.

The exhibition BELGIANS CAN DO TOO! tells the story ofthe Belgian-Luxembourg volunteers. Through rare objects,moving pictures, key eyewitnesses, stunning dioramas andspecial film footage collected all over the world, the visitoris introduced to the lives of our volunteers in Korea.

Left: Belgian soldiers togetherwith a South Korean on the38th parallel.(Albert Van Britsom)

Below left: American ColtM1911 A1 with decorated grip.A fine, albeit confiscated,souvenir.(KLM-MRA Inv. Nr. 901924)

Right: The uniform ofLieutenant Colonel RobertGathy in Korea. Upon returningfrom Korea, he wasreintegrated in the armedforces with the rank of major.(KLM-MRA, Inv. Nr. 909763-909767)

Below: The pierced AmericanM1-helmet of A. Six.(KLM-MRA Inv. Nr. 901922)


Exhibitions

Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of MilitaryHistory, 3, Parc du Cinquantenaire, B-1000 BrusselsFree admissionOpening hours:Tuesday to Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1:00p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Closed On Mondays, January 1, May 1,November 1, December 25Telephone :00-32-(0)2 737 78 33 (Reception)00-32-(0)2 737 78 11 (Operator)00-32-(0)2 737 78 02 (Fax)http://www.klm-mra.be [email protected]

Who were the men who volunteered for the Korean War?And did women volunteer too? How was life on the Koreanfront? What goes through your mind during close combatwith Chinese soldiers? What was the contact with the local

population? How do you cope with casualties? And isthere also time to relax in Korea? Step into the time

machine of the Royal Military Museum and find the answerto all these – and many more – questions!

Top: Chinese propaganda handkerchief, left behind in the no man’sland, Christmas 1951. (Koreamuseum, Tielen)

Above: UN propaganda leaflet for the Chinese troops in Korea.(KLM-MRA, CDOC, NNR 284)

Above right: A jeep for any work, even for inspiring slogans!(Pierre Vander Goten)

Left: The command banner is raised during a ceremony in Korea,ca. 1953. (Guy De Greef)

Below: Command banner of the Volunteer Corps for Korea.(KLM-MRA, Inv. Nr. 700515)


Exhibitions

50 years of operations- Protection and HelpMilitary History Museum/Military Historical Institute,Vienna24 June 2009 – 21 February 2010

Peacekeeping operations or humanitarian assistanceoperations are by no means an invention of our times.

They date back to the beginning of the 19th century at least,but were primarily driven by economic and politicalinterests. The maritime forces of the Austro-HungarianEmpire, especially played a decisive role in theseinternational power demonstrations (for example inLebanon in 1840 or Crete in 1860 and in 1897/98). In 1878,insurgencies in the areas under the hegemony of theOttoman Empire led to the occupation of Bosnia andHerzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian Army - in accordancewith the resolutions of the international Congress of Berlin.Beside these operations, military interventions also servedthe purpose of protecting citizens or diplomaticrepresentations (for example, in Beijing in 1900).Humanitarian assistance operations however were by nomeans the rule at that time, although medical (military)

personnel often tried to help the civil population on thegrounds of easing their suffering (for example in Crete in1897/98 or Albania in 1913).

Beside these historical aspects, the new exhibition at theMilitary History Museum in Vienna primarily documents thelast 50 years of Austrian engagement in the service of peaceby soldiers, policemen and women and last but not least byjudges and judicial officers all over the world.

Since Austria became a member of the United Nationsin 1955 participation in international peacekeepingoperations has become a central task of Austria’s foreign,security, and defence policy. The first of these, in 1960, waswhen Austrian soldiers participated in an UN-led operation


Exhibitions

For a closer look at the exhibition see our internet site,http://www.hgm.or.at/virtuelle_tour.html#The exhibition is open daily till 14 November 2010.For more information contact:Military History Museum/Military Historical InstituteVienna 1030 Vienna, Arsenal http://www.hgm.or.at/Opening hours: Daily from 9am to 5pm

in the Congo (ONUC). Since then Austria’s participation inpeace operations has increased – from contributing a fieldhospital in 1960, deploying police personnel in 1964, andmilitary observers in 1967, to the deployment of battalionson Cyprus in 1972/73, and on the Golan Heights in 1974.Meanwhile, Austria is participating in international crisismanagement in the form of peacekeeping worldwide as wellas in humanitarian assistance operations - at least 112missions in all.

Aside from the quantity, the quality of the operations hasalso considerably changed. Particularly over the last fewdecades there has been a shift from traditionalpeacekeeping, within the framework of the United Nationsand observer missions under the OSCE, to crisismanagement operations, including peace-making andproviding military advice and assistance. At the same timethere has been an increasing commitment to civil-militarycooperation (CIMIC).

The aim of the exhibition at the Austrian Army Museumis to present the extremely wide range of past and ongoingpeace-operations by the Austrian armed forces under theauspices of the UN, the OSCE, NATO/PfP and the EU and todocument the different aspects of these operations. Apartfrom deploying troop contingents to ‘classical’ operations(e.g. UNDOF), soldiers of the Austrian Armed Forcescontinue to participate to these operations and provide‘Protection and Help’ worldwide. So the exhibition hasprimarily the simple mandate to provide information on the

different operations and to provide a platform for those whotook part themselves. The main purpose is to createawareness among our visitors of the need to maintainpeacekeeping operations both today and into the future, butwill also show the dangers and critics of peacekeepingoperations in the past.

Beside the multimediaareas in the exhibition itselfseveral events will beorganized by the museumto give experts thepossibility to analyzedifferent subjects (forexample, observer-missions, medical-supplyduring operations, social-life in the operations-area,gender in peacekeeping) inmore detail.


Justus LipsiusAward 2011You still have till February 1,2011 to enter the three-yearlyJustus Lipsius Award.

The prize, an ICOMAM initiative, is awarded to bothpublished and unpublished work about a theme linked to

ICOMAM activities and fields of interest. Both individualauthors and writers’ collectives can enter, provided thesubmission is a harmonious entity, both in form and insubject. Digital works are admitted as of this year.

The award-winning author will receive a 2,500 europrize. If the jury feels that none of the submitted worksmeets the requirements, it is free not to award the prize.The winner will be announced during the upcomingICOMAM symposium of September 2011 in Graz (Austria).

Feel like entering? Submissions fulfilling the specificcriteria (see detailed regulations) have to be addressed tothe Justus Lipsius Award secretary by February 1, 2011 atthe latest (Mrs. Eveline Sint Nicolaas, c/o Rijksmuseum, POBox 74888, NL-1070 DN Amsterdam, the Netherlands; e-mail: [email protected] ; fax: +31-20-6747001),together with a 1-page summary. Works written in alanguage other than the official ICOMAM languages (Englishor French) can also be submitted, either as a translation orthrough an extensive summary in English or French. Papercopies are to be entered in twofold, if at all possibleaccompanied by a digital version. A digital work can besubmitted through a link to the on-line version in thesummary. A work can only be submitted once.

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Vous avez encore jusqu’au 1er février 2011 pour participerau Prix Juste Lipse, prix attribué tous les trois ans. Cette

initiative de l’ICOMAM récompense un ouvrage déjà publiéou non encore publié abordant un des centres d’intérêt del’ICOMAM. Tant les auteurs individuels que les ouvragescollectifs peuvent être soumis, pour autant que l’ouvragesoit harmonieux dans sa présentation et son sujet. Desouvrages numérisés sont acceptés à partir de cette année.

L’auteur récompensé se verra remettre la somme de2.500 euros. Si le jury est d’avis qu’aucun des ouvragessoumis ne répond aux critères, il peut décider de suspendrele prix. Le prix sera remis lors du prochain symposium de

l’ICOMAM à Graz (Autriche) en septembre 2011.Envie de participer ? Les ouvrages répondant aux

critères spécifiques (voir règlement détaillé) seront remisavant le 1er février 2011 au secrétariat du Prix Juste Lipse(Mme Eveline Sint Nicolaas, c/o Rijksmuseum, P.O. Box74888, NL-1070 DN Amsterdam, Pays-Bas; courriel:[email protected]; fax: +31-20-6747001),accompagné d’un résumé d’une page. Des ouvrages écritsdans d’autres langues que celles officiellement utilisées parl’ICOMAM (l’anglais et le français) peuvent également êtresoumis, soit en traduction, soit sous forme d’un résumésubstantiel en anglais ou en français. Des ouvrages sursupport papier sont à remettre en deux exemplaires, sipossible accompagnés d’une version numérisée. Lesouvrages numérisés seront transmis par un lien vers laversion en ligne dans le résumé. Un ouvrage ne peut êtresoumis qu’une seule fois.

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Publications


Publications

The first of a proposed seriesof new monographs

The Vauxhall OperatoryA Century of Inventions beforethe Scientific RevolutionBeing the life’s work ofEdward Somerset, secondMarquis of Worcester and hisunparallel’d WorkmanCaspar Kalthoff‘A man’s best portrait is hisdeeds’ By Guy M Wilson

Published by Basiliscoe PressHawthorne Cottage, Moorfield Road,LEEDS, LS12 3SE, UKPrice £20 plus p&p: UK £2, Europe £4, USA £6Please make cheques payable to R D SmithISBN 978-0-9551622-2-0

As the introduction makes clear, this monograph beganas an investigation of a strange crossbow, rapidly

developed into a re-assessment of the 17th century‘gunmaking’ family, the Kalthoffs and eventually became anessay on the developing scientific revolution of the earlyStuart period. It traces the impact of the Kalthoffs whospread across Europe from their birth place, Solingen,taking with them their strange, but effective repeating gun -the first safe and reliable magazine gun to be madeanywhere in the world.

The title page of Worcester’sA Century of Inventions asreproduced in Dirck’sbiography of 1865.

The Kalthoff who came to England, Caspar, worked forsuccessive Kings and the eccentric Marquis of Worcester atthe Vauxhall Operatory. Established in 1629 this was a royalresearch establishment, based upon the visionary writing ofSir Francis Bacon. Here experiments were undertaken onanything that was close to the impossible or unbelievable -leather cannon, submarines and their mines, self-drivingboats, self-winding watches, automata, flying machines,perpetual motion water moving machines, one of which, ithas been suggested, was the first steam engine.

These implausible inventions were written up in a bookby the Marquis of Worcester and this has been roundlyderided over the years. Until now, when this monographreveals how many of these “impossible” inventions weremade at Vauxhall either at full scale or in model form. TheVauxhall Operatory is revealed as an important link betweenthe almost magical “science” of the ElizabethanRenaissance and the empirical science of the English“Scientific Revolution” and suggests that continuity andevolution was far more important than any radical new start.And Caspar Kalthoff is revealed not just as a gunmaker ofrare technical ability but as a wide-ranging engineer andmodel-maker who could turn his hand to almost anythingand make it work after a fashion.

Those interested in firearms will find much of interesthere, as will those who are fascinated by the history scienceand technology. The British Civil Wars loom large over thestory told here, a story which does much to redress theimbalance of recenthistory by highlighting themajor contributions toscience of the early StuartKings, a legacy whichParliament did not wish tosee squandered, andwhich survived to influencethe scientificdevelopments of theRestoration.


‘Objects of desire’Aquestion which those working with museum collections

are often asked is what your favourite object is. Thereare many answers to this, as you will see from the replies ofour colleagues, those working in museums as well asscholars who use our collections. Often the object is notvery pre-possessing nor ‘glamorous’ but has an intriguingtale or a personal resonance. Sometimes the object will giveyou a direct line straight to a previous time, more immediatethan any book or written source, which can intrigue and awethe viewer. Sometimes the simple task of trying to identifyan object can be the beginning of a life’s work. What is yourfavourite object?

Powder Flask

Peter SigmondFormer Director Collections of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

In 1876 an English ‘sportsman’ Charles L.W. Gardinervisited, on his steam-yacht ‘Glowworm’, the then recently

discovered remains of the winterquarters of the 16th centuryDutch discoverers Willem Barentsz and Jacob van

Heemskerck, situated on the east coast of the island NovayaZemlya in the Barents Sea.

In 1596 Barentsz and Heemskerck tried to find a seawayto Asia straight over the North Pole. However, they got stuckin the ice and their ship was wrecked. They decided towinter on the island in a house they built themselves – thefirst Europeans to do so inside the Polar Circle. On 13 June1597 they left the house and rowed back in open boats 1800miles to Kola (Russia). Barentsz died during the trip. In thehouse they left behind this simple, quiet common, powderflask, perhaps because it was already damaged and useless.The iron nozzle, stop valve and bottom were missing.However, it was still good enough to serve as a box to leavebehind with a short letter in it. It was signed by bothdiscoverers, a message, stating who they were, what hadhappened and that they intended to sail back in their boatsand hoped to reach their homeland, ‘with Gods help’.

In 1876, Gardiner found the flask, amongst many otherobjects, and after he returned to England he generouslydonated the collection to the Dutch Government. Today, thepowder flask, the letter and the other objects are part of thecollection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

It is one of my favorite objects because it stands for thisunbelievable story of perseverance and because this humblepowder flask, already worthless at the time, served a secondlife as a container, preserving one of the most movingletters in Dutch history.

References.Braat J, J H G Garwonski, J B Kist, A E D M van de Put & J PSigmond (eds), Behouden uit het Behouden Huys.Catalogus van de voorwerpen van de Barentsexpeditie(1596) (Amsterdam 1998).de Jonge J K J, Nova Zembla (1597-1586). The BarentsRelics, recovered in the summer of 1876 by Charles L.W.Gardiner, Esq. and presented to the Dutch Government,(London 1877).

Feature


Objects of desire

‘Always in the way’

Klas KronbergArmy Museum, Stockholm

This steam field military kitchen served with the Swedishair force in Östersund. How many mouths it has fed is a

tough guess but its size indicates it has warmed up a lot ofmeals. Field kitchens of this type have also been used bymedical services, sometimes as mobile sterilisation units.

Like Sisyphus pushing his boulder in the Underworld, Ihave spent many tedious hours pulling and shoving thisbeast around the storeroom. Apart from its considerableweight, it has two special features: it always gets in the way(wherever you put it, it has to be moved the next day) and itis complicated to move. It is heavy, cumbersome and thearticulation makes the back part always swing the wrongway. But even though the field kitchen is an extremelyirritating item, I cannot help being impressed by itsuncooperative attitude. I have developed a love/haterelationship with this thing, and will long remember it. Howanyone could have manoeuvred the apparatus in a field ofcombat is beyond my understanding.

A samuraicrab?

Stephen TurnbullFormerly Visiting Professorof Japanese Studies at AkitaInternational University,Japan

In 1970, the year when my long interest in samurai burstinto life, I made my first visit to Japan. As an impoverished

student it was far from being the Grand Tour, particularly tothe extent of buying specimens of arms and armour, but Idid manage to acquire one object of great historicalsignificance that had the added attraction of being incrediblycheap. For the princely sum of 100 yen I bought a dead crab;not just any dead crab, you must understand, but a genuineHeike crab, purchased from the Akamagu Shrine at Dan noUra on the straits of Shimonoseki, the site of the great seabattle of 1185 where the Taira family (the Heike) wheredestroyed by the Minamoto, the future Shoguns.

Such a catastrophic loss of life and political influence ledto a plethora of legends concerning ghosts of dead samurai,the best of which stated that the spirits of the dead warriorslived on within the bodies of the crabs on the seashore,whose shells consequently bear a pattern that resemblesthe face of an anguished samurai in his death throes.

The little crab has been on display in my study eversince. I have always cherished it, but it was only two yearsago that I came to appreciate a certain added significance.In 2008 I made my first return visit to the shrine andattempted to purchase another crab. Alas, I was told thatthe crabs are now extinct, and a plastic replica was now thebest they could do. The only real Heike crab the shrinepossessed was now behind a glass case. So my own uniquespecimen soldiers on alone, holding pride of place amongthe mess of religious ephemera that I have collected overthe years, his glaring expression warning visitors of thesamurai spirit that just may dwell within.

© Armemuseum, Stockholm


Objects of desire

The Art of CombatJeffrey L. Forgeng

Paul S. MorganCurator, Higgins Armory Museum

For my contribution to the Magazine I have to select anoriginal copy of Joachim Meyer’s Kunst des Fechtens,

printed in 1600, museum number HAM 2004.02. When Iacquired it at auction, the charming gentleman sitting nextto me congratulated me on the successful bid, assuring methat it was ‘sehr selten.’ Genau!

A search through WorldCat shows only 4 copies of theoriginal 1570 edition in American libraries, and only 2 of the1600 edition. The woodcuts in this treatise on combat withthe long sword, dusack, rapier, dagger and staff weaponsnever cease to astonish me with their exquisite detail andcultural complexity. The text is one of our most importantsurviving sources for understanding how these weaponswere used. Together the words and images have been a coreresource for the development of the Higgins Armory’sdemonstrations and classes on historical combat. If only wehad acquired it a year earlier it would have been in time forme to save a lot of money on photography and reproductionrights in my published translation of 2006!

The mystery of the torpedo

Steven A. Walton

The U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, hasa small but important museum on the history of

Newport naval facilities on the ground floor of Founder Hall(incidentally also where Capt. Alfred Thayer Mahan wrotehis Influence of Sea Power upon History). Inside thatmuseum, which chronicles the Naval Academy’s relocationto Newport during the U.S. Civil War (Annapolis was toonear the Confederacy), the Naval Torpedo Station, the NavalTraining Station, and the Naval War College, two gleamingbrass torpedoes sit on quiet display. The pointed one is theStation “Fish” torpedo from about 1872-5, a thinly veiledcopy of the early Whitehead-Luppis torpedoes beingdeveloped in Fiume/Rijeka, Croatia for the Austrian Navy.The one with rounded ends is a Howell Torpedo from about1875-80 which used an innovative flywheel spun up to3000RPM for stability and guidance. While researching theearly history of the Torpedo Station, I came across a numberof drawings in the archives of alternative propulsion andguidance mechanisms for the Station Fish, but no indicationof which of them, if any, were used in the object itself. Iasked the museum curator if they had ever had the Fishopen; they hadn’t, but he was interested to see, so weplanned to do that upon my next visit to the museum. Butjust before that was to happen, he informed me that we


Objects of desire

could not open the torpedo because the EOD (ExplosiveOrdnance Disposal), who has to be present when any objectsof this sort are tampered with, was unwilling to allow theaccess panels to be opened. The irony was, it was notbecause they had any evidence that the torpedo had anyexplosives in it (it is an experimental model for propulsionand steering so never had a warhead and by visualinspection you can tell the nose is empty), but because theydid not have a manual for that model! So the inner workingsof the first U.S. automobile torpedo will probably remain amystery forever.

Paavo Paajanen´s war knife

Lauri HaavistoDirector of Research, the Artillery Museum of Finland

My favourite object in the Artillery Museum of Finlandwhere I work is definitely the war knife of Paavo

Paajanen. He was a highly decorated soldier who served inthe Finnish army during the Second World War in Finland’stwo wars against the Soviet Union. Paajanen was awardedthe second highest decoration in the Finnish army, theMannerheim Cross 2nd class named after the FinnishMarshall Mannerheim. Paajanen was only 25 when hereceived the award, but although the museum does not havethe actual medal on display we do have, what I think, is arather more interesting object that he donated to themuseum. The object in question is Paajanen´s war knife

that he only used during the war. Paajanen told the story ofthe knife to one of our museum workers in the 1990´s, a fewyears before he passed away.

Realities of warPaajanen told his story of being an artilleryman who servedas a runner. His battery had to change positions often duringthe night and the Russian soldiers used this opportunity toambush Finnish convoys. These battles were often fought inpitch-black darkness and at close quarters. Paajanen saidthat several times he could not actually see if it was aRussian soldier that he was fighting in the darkness.However he could recognize Russian soldiers from twothings. First they smelled of mahorkka, a very strongRussian tobacco that was not smoked by the Finnishsoldiers and that had a distinguishing odour. Secondly theRussians didn’t have backpacks on. All the Finnish soldiershad them because the unit was moving on to a new position.These were the only things by which he could recognize anenemy and Paajanen said he stabbed several Russiansoldiers to death in these battles. The war knife he used inthese battles is on display and close inspection of the knifereveals the dried blood of a Russian soldier on the bladefrom seventy years ago.

What stories are told from a war?I believe that Paajanen´s war knife is one of the best objectsin the museum for bringing the visitor close to realities ofthe war, what soldiers have to do in them and what theyhave to live with after the war. Also behind every medal oraward there is usually a story like Paajanen´s. He himselfactually did not get his Mannerheim Cross from these nightbattles, but this was the story that he wanted to tell to ourworker about the war. Not the story about the highdecoration he received nor some other, perhaps less violent,story of the war, but the story about a simple knife. His warknife is, in a way, a decoration which he kept as good careas any medal he got from the war. For a museum, an itemlike this knife and the story behind it makes it unique and inmy opinion the most interesting story to tell to visitors.

Paavo Paajanen´s war knife from the collections of the ArtilleryMuseum of Finland. Photo Ismo Pekkola.


Objects of desire

Sarcophagus

Kelly de VriesProfessor of History, Loyola University, Maryland

Ona nice day in Istanbul, July 2006, Bob Smith, Ruth Brown,Vicky Avery and I sat down under a tree in the courtyard

outside the Istanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri (Museum of Archaeology)to rest. Created fromwhat was left and gathered by two of theworld’s greatest Empires, the collections of the Museums ofArchaeologymay be some of the richest in the world. Wholemuseumsmight be founded just to house what is out in thecourtyard, but with somany fine historical and artistic worksinside some great piecesmust languish out-of-doors, and feware catalogued or labeled.

One that caught my eye was a sarcophagus ofindeterminate date which depicts a Late Roman or Byzantinehusband and wife, seemingly buried (or too be buried)together. Both are depicted on one side of the sarcophagus,as are their possessions. It is these that are of the mostinterest, as they depict both the woman’s household items –knitting needles, yarn, hand mirror, perfume bottles, etc. –and the man’s arms and armor – helmet, cuirass, shield,greaves, javelin, sword, quiver of arrows, bow case, etc.Some items have yet to be identified. This may be a uniqueitem – I have seen no similar sarcophagus, although it wasnot unusual for Ancient Romans to depict captured arms astrophies on sarcophagi or monuments. If properly dated, itshould lead scholars to know what was worn and carried inearly Byzantium, where images of soldiers are rare due tothe prevalence of iconoclasm.

A ducal mace

Daniela AsselUniversalmuseun Joanneum, Schloss Eggenberg, Graz, Austria

With 32,000 items in the inventory of the Arsenal at Graz,it is not so easy to select a favourite item, since every

one is unique of its kind and in its method of production, andtherefore merits singling out. Yet I would like nonetheless topresent an item from our collection that tends to beoverlooked by our visitors.

Among the armour and weapons at the Armoury forducal use are objects that indicated to the outside world thewearer’s social position or office. One such item is thesolitary mace in our collection. It is made wholly of iron,43.2cm long, and very simply wrought. It once had eightblades, but three are missing, and it is probably 16thcentury. Maces were a 13th century development of theancient club, and were weapons used by the cavalry, theheads being reinforced with a radial arrangement of bladesmade of iron or bronze. Soon the whole mace was fashionedof iron and its design fully developed. Its popularity was dueto its being an effective weapon of attack even against solidarmour, because initially the weapon was regarded by thenobility as beneath them in comparison with swords andlances – it not only looked clumsy and simple but alsosmacked of a workman’s tool.

With the rise of firearms and the abandonment of heavyarmour in the 16th century, the mace gradually lost its roleand fell into disuse. However, it then acquired a newimportance as a symbol of authority for high-level


Objects of desire

commanders, as in early high cultures in the Near East.Ornate maces now became status symbols and found useas sceptres of rulers. Marshal’s batons are a derivation ofthem. The master of ceremonies in the British House ofCommons – the Sergeant-at-Arms – carries a mace as asymbol of the authority of the Crown and the Speaker of theHouse of Commons.

St George and the Dragon

Robert D SmithIndependent Scholar

Istarted working in the Conservation Department of theArmouries in the Tower of London in late 1975 and it was

probably the next year that I was told to make a pair ofstirrups for a miniature armour. I remember going to thethen Tudor Gallery on the top floor of the White Tower andmaking drawing and sketches of the stirrups of the silveredand engraved armour of Henry VIII. I remember the fun andpleasure in making them. The job finished I forgot aboutthem – they were just one more task in what was for me, anexciting time learning about armour and armourconservation.

In the 1980s the Armourers and Brasiers Company, oneof the London livery companies, decided that it wanted tore-establish its links with the craft, the ‘mystery’ of makingarmour, and invited my father, Ted Smith, and Arthur Davis

of the Armouries to become members of the Company. Bothretired in the 1990s and I was then invited to join theCompany to maintain the link. Imagine my surprise when,walking into Armourers Hall, I saw the miniature armourthat I had made the stirrups for all those years ago.

But what of the object itself? The story is one of thosethat are hard to make up. In July 1528 William Vinyardbecame Master of the Company and to celebrate this hegave the Armourers the model of George and the Dragon. Itwas described ‘the George that stands in the Hall next thehigh table’ and became a cherished possession. Howeverover the years it was sold and disappeared. Claude Blair,another liveryman of the Company, recognised it in thecollection of Alfred Miller of Didsbury and on the death ofMiller, alerted the Company who were able to buy it back in1975. The wooden horse and dragon were restored by theVictoria and Albert Museum and the armour was cleanedand restored at the Armouries.

So for me this object is one of those that has awonderful story to tell, one of loss and recovery, and onethat is very personal to me.


Objects of desire

A child’s armour

Piet De GryseSenior Curator, Royal Military Museum, Brussels

It is always frustrating having to single out one particularobject in a huge collection. Putting one object centre stage

unavoidably relegates all the others to the background,although these also might have a special history or a uniquevalue. In order to somewhat lighten my task, I limited myselfto the arms and armour collection but even within thisensemble choosing proved tough. I finally decided upon abeautiful children’s armour, fit for a 5 to 6 year old boy,made in Augsburg (Germany) by Anton Peffenhauser. Thisexquisite children’s armour is not only a superb example oftechnical craftsmanship, but also illustrates the state ofmind of an epoch, when children were seen as miniatureadults. Nevertheless, children’s armour are rare, as it wasall the same quite unusual to supply little boys with suchexpensive equipment. This further reinforces the exclusivecharacter of the piece. But most of all there is a curious linkwith the history of the Low Countries – all the more reasonto select this armour as an absolute top piece.

Anton Peffenhauser, both a gifted and renownedcraftsman and a member of the Augsburg city council, madethe armour. He was one of the richest and most famousarmourers of his time. He was a brilliant armourer and

worked for the rich and famous. He provided exclusive itemsand therefore was an ‘expensive’ craftsman, artist andentrepreneur. He worked from around 1545 till 1603 and allmajor armour collections include his fine and exquisite work.

The armour consists of a burgonet, a four-piece gorget,complete protection for shoulders and upper and lowerarms, fingered gauntlets, a breast plate and a back plateand finally a fauld holding up cuisses and poleyns. Thearmour shows a restrained and subtle decorative patternmade up of finely etched and partly gilded vertical bands ona partly blackened surface. The armour was probably part ofa small garniture, of which the closed visor helmet is kept atSchloss Ambras in Austria.

The most important reason why this armour ispresented here is to be found in its link with the SouthernLow Countries. The German emperor Maximilian II mostprobably ordered the armour for his son Albert. The latter issaid to have worn the ensemble when he was 5, for thecrowning of Maximilian in 1564. Albert later becamegovernor of the Southern Low Countries and marriedIsabella, daughter of the Spanish king Philip II. The storyhas it that the boys’ armour was worn again at the Brusselscourt. For instance by Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, son ofMaximilian II Emanuel (governor of the Southern LowCountries from 1691 till 1706), who is said to have played inthe park wearing it, before passing away, aged 7.


Objects of desire

Alarm clock and candlelighter

Guy Wilson

Over the years I’ve been asked by many people, includingquite a few journalists “So, what is your favourite

object?” I have always suspected that they anticipated theanswer to be some famous and important piece - one ofHenry VIII’s armours, for instance, but I’ve always used thequestion as an excuse to explain how lucky we are to work inand with museums on objects from our past and havetherefore always taken the line that my favourite object iswhatever I’m working on at the time.

Now, to be honest, that’s not entirely true. There arealways some that stick in the mind more than others, butusually because of a personal involvement with them ratherthan their intrinsic worth - a curious crossbow identifiedhere, a gun re-dated and made more significant there, andso forth. Also there are some groups or collections ofobjects remain firm favourites - the Civil war Armoury fromLittlecote House in Wiltshire acquired by the RoyalArmouries in the mid 80s, for example.

I and others marched from Littlecote to Horse Guardsparade in two days to deliver a petition to our Minister

asking for the collection to be saved for the nation.Horseguards was packed with costumed members of ourCivil War re-enactment societies and I will never forget thesight of massed ranks of pikes dipping under Admiralty archas they marched towards the Parade and we waited anddressed ourselves suitably on the Mall.

Then of course, there has been the wonderful contentsof Henry VIII’s warship Mary Rose that has been part ofmany of our lives now for some 30 years. For the rest ofyou, the wait is nearly over as the volume on the ship’s armsand armour will soon be out! However, I still hold to mygeneral view that for me my favourite object is the one thatis causing me grief, heartache, sleepless nights and, if I’mlucky a half cheer of triumph at the end.

So, at the moment my favourite object is a fullyautomatic alarm clock and candlelighter that I’ve beenresearching for our friend and sponsor Peter Finer’s newcatalogue. It was made in Prague in the early 18th centuryby the clockmaker, Ferdinand Engelsalchk who was born inFriedburg in Bavaria in 1680 and is known to have beenworking in Prague by 1706 and He died in 1755.

It is a beautifully made and decorated object and anexample of the love of the European upper and educatedclasses for the ingenious and curious that acted as such a


Objects of desire

spur to scientific development after the Renaissance.Now this, of course, is a subject that I have been looking

in to in recent years for my study on Caspar Kalthoff andthe Marquis Earl of Worcester and what they were up to atthe Vauxhall Operatory both before and after the British CivilWars of the mid 17th century.

Indeed, there was something from that work that helpedin the cataloguing of the candlelighter alarm. In TheVauxhall Operatory I had noted that Worcester’s 19thcentury biographer, Henry Dircks, quoted from ThomasPowell’s Humane Industry, published in London in 1661

when he claims that “Andrew Alciat the great Civilian ofFrance had a kind of Clock in his chamber, that shouldawake him at any hour that he determined, and when itstruck the determined hour, it struck fire likewise out of aflint, which fell among tinder, to light him a candle: it wasthe invention of one Caravagio of Sienna in Italy.“ In thebook I had left it bat that as it was not of direct relevance. Ishould not have done and the work on Peter’s candlelighterhas made me look further.

Andrew Alciat was, of course, the the Italian juristAndrea Alciato who lived from 1492 to 1550. It is anintriguing thought that such a complex mechanical wondermight have been invented in the 16th rather than the 17thcentury. However, we cannot assume this from a story toldin 1661, but what the story does show quite clearly is thatthe idea of an automatic alarm candlelighter wasconsidered to be of some age in 1661.

While this cannot necessarily be taken as accurateevidence for the existence of alarm lighters in the 16thcentury, nor as evidence for an alarm lighter thatautomatically lit a candle, it certainly does show that thegeneral idea was well known and believed to be of some agein the mid 17th century and may well be of far more directrelevance to my study of the Vauxhall Operatory than I hadthought. As usual, therefore, my favourite object of themoment is currently one that makes to want to both curse(my own folly) and cheer (that I have an opportunity ofputting the record straight).


Objects of desire

The ‘Lion Rampant’

Stuart AllenSenior Curator of Military History, National Museums Scotland

If a Scottish flag seems rather an obvious choice from theMilitary History collections of National Museums Scotland,

there are subtleties to its story which make it rather anintriguing artefact. Usually known as ‘the Lion Rampant’ theRoyal Arms of Scotland have a heritage dating back to thelate 12th century. This standard is not of that vintage, beingan artefact with a Second World War provenance.

In June 1945, at a memorial service following theliberation of Crete, the forces of Crete’s National LiberationFront presented this flag to the British military authorities.They had salvaged it from the scene of fighting at Galatasduring the German invasion of Crete four years earlier. Ithad been kept as a memorial to those who fell at Galatas,and so was returned to the British as a gesture of tributeand solidarity.

The problem for the British officer who received the flagwas that no one could quite work out who it had belongedto. There were Scottish regiments in Crete in 1941, but noScottish infantry regiment flew a Scottish Royal Standard.The flag was despatched to the National War Museum inEdinburgh Castle with due gravitas, but with an air ofmystery.

Much later, historical enquiry established that present inthe action at Galatas in 1941 was a battalion of the NewZealand Expeditionary Force. The 23rd New ZealandBattalion was recruited in the South Island and included acompany from the province of Otago, the area of mostconcentrated Scottish settlement in the country. Theconsensus is that this flag was a Company headquarters

flag of the 23rd Battalion, an expression of Scottish identityon the part of the New Zealanders at Galatas.

This indeed being the case, the flag is more than a curioand perhaps something more than the memorial it wasintended to be. The expression of traditional Scottishmilitary identities in the nations of the Commonwealth is asubject with political and cultural dimensions we arecurrently researching in the context of Scottish diasporastudies.


ArticlesSikh Armour at the Royal Engineers Museum

Lauren Jones, and Amy AdamsCollections Care Officer and Assistant Curator, Royal Engineers Museum

The Royal Engineers Museum,Library and Archive is currently

carrying out the conservation of a setof Sikh chain link armour which isheld in the collection. Donated to theMuseum by a member of the Corps ofthe Royal Engineers in 1959 this rareset includes a gauntlet, helmet, breastand back plates date from the mid1700’s.

The piece has been linked to the‘Lahore Armoury’ and was almostcertainly brought to the UK with boyMaharajah Duleep Singh and theGovernor General of India, LordDalhousie. The piece then becamepart of Lord Dalhousie’s collection;when he died without heir it was soldat auction in Edinburgh on the 7thDecember 1898.

The set itself is visually fantastic.Almost identical in style to suites ofLahore armour held at the RoyalArmouries and Wallace Collection it ismade from iron or steel which hasbeen plated to create a pattern on thelinks. There is also a beautiful golddamask pattern on the helmet,gauntlet and breast plate. Althoughbeautiful to view, the Sikh Armour is ina fragile condition and as such it hasnever been on display, despite being inthe collection for over 40 years. In2008 the Museum looked into thepossibility of conserving the set so thatit could be placed on display alongsideother items from the India collection,which include a number of items fromthe Indian Mutiny. There has been

much interest in the conservation ofthe armour and in 2009-10 the RoyalEngineers Museum set aboutgathering quotes from conservators.

A number of ICON registeredconservators were invited to theMuseum to assess the set with a viewto having it fully conserved. Thefeedback we received wasencouraging, whilst somewhatfrustrating; we have a tentative figureof £30,000 to conserve the set andcreate a purpose built case andmount. The Museum is confident thearmour can be well conserved, but weare however very keen to preserve its

history, a history its current conditionreflects. The armour will not berestored to an as-new condition; thistechnique would destroy part of theobject’s history and allure.

In September, the Museum beginsa fundraising project to raise moneyfor the conservation. This starts withan evening dedicated to the set and isfeatured as part of the Anglo SikhHeritage Trail. We hope to hold similarevents throughout the progress ofset’s conservation with special viewingof the armour. Whilst a piece of chainarmour like this is not hugely rare, it isindeed rare to find a set so complete,with its original silks. For all of us atthe museum these are extremelyexciting times; we have never carriedout a project like this before, but wefeel this armour is of such culturaland historic importance it warrantsthe very best attention we can give.For more information on the SikhArmour or to help with fundraising forit’s conservation please contact:Lauren Jones, Collections Care [email protected]


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By wisdom and by handA Dutch cannon in Jodhpur

Ruth Rhynas BrownIndependent scholar

Mehrangarh Fort in Rajasthan, is oneof the largest forts in India andwas

built by themaharajahs of Jodhpur, one ofthe richest andmost powerful dynasties.Theywere frequently alliedwith andsometimes fought against the greatMughals themselves.Much of thesurviving fabric is thework of JaswantSingh (1638–78), a contemporary of ShahJahan, builder of the TajMahal andAurangzeb, the last of theGreatMughals.

The ramparts of Mehrangarh Fortare home to one of the greatcollections of historic artillery in India.Most of the guns are of Indian orBritish origin, but there is aremarkable small bronze piece whichis a reminder of another Europeanpower and its ambitions in Asia, andanother contemporary of JaswantSingh, Cornelis Speelman.

The cannon, No 1779, is a shortpiece, barely 80 cms in length.Unfortunately the bore is blocked butthe calibre is probably one or twopounds. The cascable is of a commonDutch variety: grapes surrounded byacanthus leaves. The face of the

The inscription cast on the base ofthe gun reads: JOANNESOUDEROGGE ME FECIT ROTERODAMI1682. The motto below the armsreads: CON SENNO E CON LA MANEwhich translated from Italian is “bywisdom and by hand”, a popular mottofrom the opening stanzas of Tasso’s LaGerusalemme liberata.

Johannes Ouderogge was the thirdin a generation of famous Dutchgunfounders from Rotterdam in theNetherlands. He was born in 1640, theson of the founder Cornelis Ouderoggeand his wife, Cornelia Nobel andtrained in the foundry on Hoogstraatwhere his grandfather Jan, his fatherCornelis and his uncle Dirk had allworked. When Cornelis died in 1672,Johannes took over as MasterFounder. In 1679 he married Catherinavan der Wiele. Later in his career hemoved to the Navy Foundry at TheHague where he probably died in early18th century.

Johannes Ouderogge cast guns forthe Dutch navies, particularly theMeuse Admiralty, based in Rotterdam,

baseplate is decorated with beautifullydetailed acanthus leaves against astippled background. There is anelaborate coat of arms with a mottoand military trophies, bands ofdecoration with acanthus leaves andbirds and scrolls on the first reinforceand a crowned monogram on thechase. There are bands of foliage, birdsand scrolls in front of the trunnionsand behind the rounded muzzle.

Johannes Ouderoggewas the third in ageneration of famousDutch gunfounders fromRotterdam in theNetherlands


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and the VOC, the Dutch East IndiaCompany, as well as for privateindividuals. Several of his guns havesurvived, including two guns orderedby a Scottish merchant for Charles II,currently in Woolwich and EdinburghCastle (Blackmore 1976: 50-51).Others are found in collections as far

than most of these surviving cannonscast by Johannes and is of a higherquality, although the bands ofacanthus at the muzzle and trunnionsare very typical of Dutch.

The coat of arms is set withinnautical themes: mer-lions, anchorsand military trophies, suggesting amarine context for the owner. Itbelongs to a member of the Speelmanfamily, a prominent family of Dutchmerchants and landowners. The mostfamous member of the family wasCornelis Speelman who rose tobecome Governor General of India inthe Dutch East India Company 1681-84. A portrait with the coat of arms inthe Rijksmuseum confirms thisidentification, as the does the initialsof the monogram- CS.

Cornelis was born in 1628 and wentout in the service of the Dutch EastIndia Company to Batavia in 1645,becoming Bookkeeper in 1648 andUnderbuyer in 1649. His attachment tothe embassy to Persia was followed byfurther promotions, reaching theposition of Governor of the CoromandelCoast. Cornelis’s rise was temporarilyhalted when he was accused ofengaging in private trading. Despite hisstrenuous protests, the court inBatavia wanted to make an example ofhim and Speelman was suspended for15 months and heavily fined.

He regained his reputation when in1666 he was appointed Admiral of theVOC’s fleet against Makassar, leadingtwo expeditions and succeeding intaking the territory in 1669, for which hewas rewarded with a chain and medaland further promotions. He became afull Counsellor of the Indies on 23March 1671. Throughout the 1670s hecontinued to command the VOC’s fleetsin Asian waters, helping to consolidateDutch influence in the East Indies.Eventually in 1680 he was namedGovernor-General, a post he took up on25 November 1681. Speelman died inBatavia in 1684, and was buried to thesalute of cannons, possibly includingthis one (Boxer 1965).

Given the date of the cannon, 1682,it may have been ordered as a presentor commemoration of his promotion.

afield as the Legermuseum, Delft andthe Army Museum, Istanbul. Howeverfewer of Johannes’ guns have comedown to us, compared to the survivingcannons cast by his father Cornelis, sothat this is a very welcome addition tothe corpus of Dutch ordnance. TheJodhpur piece is a more elaborate gun


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Like Ouderogge, Speelman came froma well-known Rotterdam family, sothat it is no surprise that thecommission to cast the gun went to afellow townsman. Incidentally anothersmall cannon, formerly in the VisserCollection has the same coat of arms.It is apparently dated 1621, which is tooearly a date for Cornelis Speelman,although the slightly out of proportiondecoration suggests a possible originin the east (Roth 1996: 221).

Sadly there is no answer to themystery of how this small cannonreached Rajasthan. Jodhpur is on thewestern provinces of India, far fromSpeelman’s area of interest in Bataviaand Java. It may have arrived afterbeing captured in war or was given asa gift. It is still a very handsomecannon and an evocative reminder of17th century India and Europeanambition. There may be a clue in a pairof cannons which were in Jodphur in1920 but we have been unable tolocate since. These were cast byGerard van den Nieuwenhuyse in 1578Mechlan/Malines in modern Belgium.They were captured from the Marathasby the Rajput forces who defeatedthem at the Battle of Lalsot of 1787(van Doorslaer, 1935, 236-8). Perhapsthe Speelman piece was captured atthe same time.

AcknowledgementsRobert Smith took the initialphotographs on an expedition to Indiaunder the auspices of Peter Vemmingand the Middelaldercentret, Denmark,sponsored by the Danish Galathea 3project.Eveline Sint Nicolaas of theRijksmuseum, Amsterdam, identifiedthe coat of arms as belonging to amember of the Speelman family andprovided information on CornelisSpeelman, opening up another fronton the research, for which I am verygrateful.Work on the historic artillery collectionin Jodhpur was initially being carriedout with Professor RamamurthyBalasubramaniam of the IndianInstitute of Technology, Kanpur. Verysadly Bala died last year, far too soonand far too young, and this article isdedicated to his memory.

BibliographyBlackmore H L, The Armouries of theTower of London. I: Ordnance.London: HMSO. 1976.Boxer C R, The Dutch SeaborneEmpire 1600-1800. London, 1965.van Doorslaer, ‘Dix pieces d’artilleriefondues a Malines’ Oud-Holland.Amsterdam.1935.Roth R, The collection of H. L. VisserVolume 2: Ordnance. Zwolle. 1996.

Given the date of thecannon, 1682, it mayhave been ordered as apresent orcommemoration of hispromotion. LikeOuderogge, Speelmancame from a well-knownRotterdam family, sothat it is no surprise thatthe commission to castthe gun went to a fellowtownsman


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German mobilisation of Slovenes

Monika Kokalj Koc̆evar, MANational Museum of Contemporary History, Slovenia

Slovenia was occupied on 6 April1941, dismembered and divided

into three territorial units. The largest,the northern part consisting of Styria,Upper Carniola and a small part ofCarinthia with about 798,000inhabitants, was in the Third Reich,although the territory was neverofficially annexed. The southern part,known as Ljubljana Province with over336,000 inhabitants, belonged to Italy,

which already annexed the territory atthe beginning of May 1941 and thesmallest, the eastern part, with102,000 inhabitants, was allocated toHungary. They all initiated a strongGermanization, Italianisation andHungarisation policy.

Studies and research into thenumber of victims of WW2 in Sloveniaare still ongoing, but it is estimatedthat over 80,000 people were sent toprisons, over 80,000 people wereforcibly expelled (62,500 of them sentto Germany) from their homes and58,522 people were in concentrationcamps in Italy, Germany (21,234) and inHungary. 19,824 people were inconfinement or were POW. 2,949people were killed in Slovenia ashostages. It is estimated that around50,000 Slovenian men were forciblymobilised into the German Army. Thetotal number of victims of WW2 inSlovenia is over 90,000 whichrepresents nearly 6% of the population.

Occupiers disbanded Slovenianpolitical, expert, cultural and otherorganisations, prohibited the use ofthe Slovene language and introducedGerman or Germanized names andsurnames, names of towns and evenmountain peaks. The politicalorganisations Styrian HomelandAssociation and Carinthian People'sAssociation (Steierische Heimatundand Kaertner Volksbund) were part ofthat system in which more than 90% ofthe population enrolled out of fear inthe given conditions. The Germanauthorities wanted to annex theoccupied regions of Styria and UpperCarniola as soon as possible, butfirstly because of certainadministration problems and laterbecause partisan groups had alreadyappeared, they postponed theannexation to the period after the war.The leaders of the civil administrationwere appointed, Dr. SiegfriedUiberreiter and Franc Kutschera,followed by Dr. Friedrich Rainer.

Citizenship on probationIn August 1941 an outline of thecontract on citizenship on the liberatedterritories of Styria, Carinthia and Crain

It is estimated thataround 50,000 Slovenianmen were forciblymobilised into theGerman Army


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was prepared in Berlin. The ministryboard published the decree in October1941. In the second paragraph, it wasstated that a person of German orsimilar blood who was Yugoslav citizenor without citizenship and on 14 April1941 lived on the territory of Styria,Carinthia and Upper Carniola would getGerman citizenship on probation, ‘aufWiderruf’, on condition that they wererecognised as being loyal to thehomeland. The criterion for that wasmembership of Heimatbund orVolksbund. Citizens on probation wouldbe treated as German citizens, and theywould be called to do military serviceand state labour service.

The civil administration for occupiedStyria and Carinthia with UpperCarniola therefore gave the majority ofSlovenes citizenship on probation. Thechief of the civil administration in LowerStyria, Dr. Uiberreiter, issued aproclamation on 24 March 1942introducing military law in Lower Styria.On 20 July 1942 a decree introducingthe law on labour service and militarylaw was published in official gazette of

chief of civil administration in Carinthiaand Upper Carniola .

Call up into German ArmyThe German authorities thought thatwith the introducing of citizenship onprobation they would speed upGermanisation and tie Sloveniannation closer to Germany. Lower Styriaand Upper Carniola were militarilysubordinate to the XVIII MilitaryDistrict in Salzburg. Technically, forcedmobilisation was carried out bymilitary reporting offices, communityoffices and mayors. Politicalorganisations also participated.Propaganda was made throughnewspapers, leaflets and speeches.Conscripts were threatened that if theydid not respond to the call up, theywould lose citizenship, their familymembers would be excluded frompolitical organisations and sent toconcentration camps.

In Styria, the first lists were madeof men born in 1923 and 1924,followed by those born in 1921 , 1922,1919 and 1920, and in November and

December 1925 and 18. Conscriptionand call up followed. In July 1942, the1923 and 1924 age groups were calledup. Those born in 1923 went directly tothe front, those from 1924 went to theReichs Arbeit Dienst (RAD) and then tothe front.

By the end 1942, those born in1919-22 had been conscripted; in 1943those from 1914-18 and 1925-'27, andin 1944 those from 1908-15, who werefirst mobilised into RAD and then intothe army. Those born in 1928 werelisted in 1944 and those from 1929 inMarch 1945.

Conscription and call up startedlater in Upper Carniola . Men born in1923 and 1924 were called into RAD inJanuary 1943 and into the Wehrmachtin April 1943. In February, men born in1925 were called up and in May theconscripts were sent to the army. InMarch 1943, those born1920-22 werecalled up, followed by men born in1916-19 in April and May. At thebeginning of August, those born in1926 were sent to RAD and later intothe German army. In Upper Carniola,call up stopped in 1944 but in Styriaand Carinthia it continued until 1945.

Units and frontThe majority of Slovenes forciblymobilised were sent for training to theTyrol, Salzburger land, Carinthia andUpper Styria. Slovenes served invarious units. They were soon sent tothe front and took part in battles onthe Baltic, in the north up to Narvik, inthe south in Greece and also in Africa.They were also many on French andItalian battlefields. Some were alsodecorated for bravery and werepromoted to junior ranks.

CasualtiesFrom the very beginning ofmobilisation, relatives received noticesfrom the fronts came about death oftheir members of families. Many werealso missed in action. So far nearly12,000 fallen Slovenes have beenidentified. Many of Slovene men werewounded, even more times, and manybecame invalids.

Conscripts werethreatened that if theydid not respond to thecall up, they would losecitizenship, their familymembers would beexcluded from politicalorganisations and sentto concentration camps


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Deserters into partisanunits in SloveniaThe beginning of German mobilisationin Slovenia was very successful but in1943, mobilisation did not achieve theexpected results. Many men publiclyexpressed their discontent but fear forthe fate of their relatives was still verystrong. In Slovenia, the partisanmovement started to get stronger andmore numerous in 1943 and 1944 andconscripts had the possibility of joiningthe partisans and later the HomeGuard. Even those already in theGerman army began to desert.Slovene men started to desert fromtheir German units in 1943, especiallywhen they were on leave. Because oftheir skills and military knowledge,they were of great value to thepartisan groups. The Šlander andZidanšek brigades in Styria had thehighest number of German deserters.

In the middle of July 1943, Germanheadquarters and leading office of theSS prohibited sending soldiers onleave to territories south of the Drava,in order to prevent the numerousdesertions. On 15th March, the chief ofthe civil administration, Dr.Uiberreiter, issued a proclamationdetailing measures against therelatives of partisans and desertersfrom the German army into thepartisans. Relatives would be expelledand their property confiscated. Thethreat was not implemented in full butthe Nazis expelled over 2300 personsfrom Upper Carniola between January1943 and August 1944. Many deserterson leave also joined Slovene HomeGuard and Upper Carniola SelfDefence which were units intended forcollaboration with the Germans.

The Headquarters of the NationalLiberation Army of the Partisans ofStyria issued a circular letter in April1944 in which they proclaimed generalmobilisation of men aged from 18 to 45and many men joined partisan groupsinstead of going into the German army.Many men who wanted to desert to thepartisans or to other allies werecaught and sentenced to death. SomeSlovene men were beheaded in Grazand Vienna in Austria.

Joining Allied unitsMany forcibly mobilised men desertedfrom their units at the front. Afterdeserting they joined variousresistance movements in the occupiedcountries of Europe or partisans unitsin the east. After July 1944 there werealso many desertions on the westernfront, many surrendering andbecoming POWs. The majority of themjoined the partisan 5th Prekomorska(Overseas) brigade, and with Alliedhelp came to Yugoslavia and helpedliberate Yugoslav towns in Croatia andSlovenia. Some Slovene soldiersremained till the end of war in theunits of Red Army, and many joinedunits of National Liberation Movementof Yugoslavia formed in Soviet Unionand took part in the concludedstruggles in the Yugoslavia battlefield.

PrisonersMany of those captured in the battledied of illness and famine in prisoncamps, especially in Soviet militarycamps, where they introduced almostslave labour for the prisoners.

Coming homeSlovenes forcibly mobilised foundthemselves in different assembly

camps and POW camps at the end ofwar and little by little came home.There were 15,000 wounded amongthem. Those returned from westernPOW camps were gathered inassembly camps in Jesenice andthose who came from captivity in theeast came from Subotica in Serbia.The majority came home by the end of1945, although many, especially thosefrom Soviet camps, returned only afew years after the war. At home,interrogation and contemptuousexpression ‘Schwaba soldier’ awaitedfor them. The fate of men who hadbeen mobilised was decided by theleading persons of local authorities.It depended on them whether or notthe person could be included innormal life. The worst fate awaitedthose who had been SS soldiers.

The forcibly mobilised started toorganise after the war. In 1952 inUpper Carniola and Styria, boards ofinvalids mobilised into the Germanarmy were formed, but they did notsucceed in getting any claimsrecognised. In February 1992, theforcibly mobilised founded theAssociation of Slovenes Mobilised intothe German Army in 1941-45.

Relatives would be expelled and their propertyconfiscated. The threat was not implemented in fullbut the Nazis expelled over 2300 persons fromUpper Carniola between January 1943 and August1944. Many deserters on leave also joined SloveneHome Guard and Upper Carniola Self Defence whichwere units intended for collaboration withthe Germans


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Colonel ArchibaldHenderson’sPresentation Sword

Beth L. CrumleyAssistant Ordnance Curator, NationalMuseum of the Marine Corps

One of the most intriguing items,held in the edged weapons

collection of the National Museum ofthe Marine Corps, is a presentationsword made by the Ames SwordCompany and given by the State ofVirginia to Colonel ArchibaldHenderson in 1841. While Henderson’slegacy as Commandant of the MarineCorps, a position he held for 38 years(1820–59), is well known, details of hisearly service are sometimes forgotten.As a captain of Marines aboard theUSS Constitution, Hendersondistinguished himself during the battlewith HMS Cyane and HMS Levant andreceived the sword for his actions.

A native of Dumfries, Virginia,Henderson was appointed a secondlieutenant on 4 June 1806. In less thana year, he commanded the Marinedetachment aboard USS Wasp. ByDecember 1807, he had transferred to

the USS Constitution. Assignmentsashore followed, including billets atthe Marine Barracks, New York, andCharleston, South Carolina, where hisMarines were assigned to gunboatsthen engaging pirates along the UScoast. Appointed to the rank of captainin 1811, Henderson spent the firstfifteen months of the War of 1812ashore, commanding the MarineBarracks at Charlestown,Massachusetts.

Henderson’s frustration at notbeing more directly in the fight wasmounting. He had already approachedthe Army regarding an interservicetransfer, an effort for which he hadbeen rebuked by Paul Hamilton,Secretary of the Navy. A letter, writtenin May 1813 to his brother John,clearly showed Henderson’sdissatisfaction with his assignmentand his intent to resign hiscommission at the end of the war if hewas not promoted. In June, fateintervened and Henderson wasordered to return to sea and command

the Marine detachment aboardConstitution.

By the time Henderson reported forduty on 9 September 1813, the exploitsof the Constitution were already thestuff of legend. In August 1812, in a 30-minute engagement, the crew of theConstitution shattered HMS Guerriereand was given a heroes’ welcome upontheir return to Boston. Four monthslater, the frigate HMS Java wascaptured and burned off the coast ofBrazil. Henderson feared he hadalready missed much of the action.

The 18 December 1813 dawned fairand clear. The Constitution, under theable command of Captain CharlesStewart, sailed from Boston Harbor forthe West Indies. There she preyed onBritish vessels, capturing the LovelyAnn, Phoenix, and Catherine andburned the schooner HMS Pictou. InMarch 1814, a cracked mainmast andan appearance of scurvy among thecrew forced Stewart to sail for Boston.Spotted and pursued by the Britishfrigates HMS Junon and Tenedos,Stewart managed to evade the Britishships by ordering stores andprovisions thrown overboard. On 17April, the Constitution anchored inBoston Harbor to the cheers ofthousands. Although orders wereissued in May for Stewart to sail, aBritish blockade preventedConstitution’s departure until 17December 1814. Once again,Henderson feared that in his timeashore he had missed the action.

On 20 February 1815, Constitutionsailed near the Portuguese island ofMadeira in the mid-Atlantic, steeringsouthwest with a light breeze. It was aquiet morning until shortly after noonwhen the lookout atop the frigate’smain masthead spotted a sail off thestarboard bow. Another sail wasreported off the port bow. The firstship changed course and was headingdirectly toward Constitution. The ship’slog recorded the event:

At 1 discovered a sail two points onthe larboard bow-hauled up and madesail in chace-at ½ past 1 made the sailto be a ship’s at ¾ past 1 discoveredanother sail ahead-made them out at

Capt Henderson’s Marines provided ‘livelyand well-directed fire’ duringConstitution’s battle with Cyane andLevant. Photo: Navy Art Collection


2 p.m. to be both ships, standingclosehauled, with their starboardtacks on board.

The vessel approaching from thestarboard flew signal flags, whichcould not be answered. RealizingConstitution was not friendly, theunknown ship turned westward,sailing away.

The chaplain on board the USSConstitution, Asshelon Y. Humphreys,wrote the following passage in hisjournal: ‘As we were now in direct trackfor craft bound from the Mediterraneanto Madeira and felt assured that nonebut men of war would manoeuver inthis way and were not mistaken.’ Theships were, indeed, men of war: theHMS Cyane and HMS Levant.

Stewart ordered all sails hoistedand the bow guns to fire, hoping tobring the ships to battle. With thechase on, the main royal mast ofConstitution snapped, forcing Stewartto slow his pursuit and make repairs.Within an hour, the mast was repaired,a testament to the skill of the men onboard the Constitution. Stewart’safteraction report stated that as thedistance closed between Constitutionand the enemy ships, his crew‘commenced firing on the chase fromour two larboard bow guns; our shotfalling short, ceased firing.’

Still about four miles from theBritish vessels, Stewart clearedConstitution for action, determined to

engage the enemy. The 34-gun Cyaneand 21-gun Levant ‘passed within hailof each other, and hauled by the windon the starboard tack, hauled up there[sic] courses and prepared to receiveus.’ Shortly before six, the two shipswent to fighting sails and formed up,sailing westward, 100 yards apart, withCyane astern of Levant.

Stewart ordered the Stars andStripes raised, and both British shipsalso hoisted their flags. From Stewart’sreport on the action, Constitutioncontinued to close and ranged up onthe starboard side of the sternmostship, about 300 yards distant, andcommenced the action by broadsides,both ships returning our fire with thegreatest of spirit for about 15 minutes,then the fire of the enemy beginning toslacken, and the great amount ofsmoke under our lee, induced us tocease our fire to ascertain theirpositions and conditions.

Captain Henderson, commandingthe Marine detachment, later testifiedthat the range was ‘so close that theMarines were engaged almost fromthe beginning of the action.’ Even atthis early date, Marine marksmenwere known to be among the best in

the world. Posted high in the ships’rigging, their mission was to fire uponthe enemy’s officers and gunners.Their fire was deadly, and in thisparticular battle, was key to victory.

Constitution had drawn parallelwith Levant. Cyane had movedstarboard to close the range and wasin position to rake Constitution’s sternwith her carronades. In a brilliantexample of seamanship and navaltactics, Stewart ensured victory overboth vessels. He ordered a fullbroadside into the smoke and towardthe Levant, then ‘braced aback ourmain and mizen and topsails, andbacked astern under the cover ofsmoke abreast the sternmost ship,when action was continued with spiritand considerable effect.’ Cyane washeavily damaged. Levant reappearedthrough the smoke and turned tostarboard in an attempt to gain araking position across Constitution’sbow. Stewart ordered the ship hard toport and delivered a raking broadsideto Levant’s stern. Heavily damaged,Levant disappeared into the darkness.Constitution continued its turn to portto come under Cyane’s port quarterand stern. Cyane’s log documentedthe damage:

Tried to get the Cyane before thewind to close her but could not, owingto the state of the rigging and situationof the sails, they lying flat aback anddriven so entangled in the wreck of the

Above left: The reverse of the sword withinscription. Photo: Kathy Reesey

Above right: The solid gold hilt of thesword, depicting Virtue’s victory overTyranny. Photo: Kathy Reesey


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mizen mast . . . totally unmanageablewith most of the standing and all therunning rigging shot away, sails muchshot and torn down . . . A number ofshot in the hull and nine or tenbetween wind and water. Six gunsdisabled by the enemy’s shot . . .

Outgunned, outmaneuvered, andunable to flee, HMS Cyane, under thecommand of Captain Gordon ThomasFalcon, struck her colors, fired one ofher carronades leeward, and yielded.

Stewart quickly ordered a crew of15 Marines, under the command ofFirst Lieutenant Beekman Hoffman totake control of the vanquished vessel.With Cyane’s officers on board, theAmerican ship went in search ofLevant. The smaller ship had made asweeping turn to port and wasreturning to fight. As Levant sailed outof the darkness, the two ships passedwithin 50 yards and exchangedbroadsides. The Levant began to flee.Constitution followed, firing her bowguns. Unable to return fire and theship’s deck looking like ‘a perfectslaughterhouse,’ Captain GeorgeDouglas struck his colors in defeat.The battle was over.

Captain Stewart reportedAmerican losses during the battle as 3killed, 12 wounded. A muster rollsigned by Captain Henderson reportedPrivates William Horrell and AntonioFarrow ‘killed in action with hisBritannic Majesty’s Ships Cyane andLevant, 20 February 1815.’ Four of thewounded were Marines.

In a general order, dated 23February 1815, Captain Stewartoffered ‘his thanks to the officers,seamen, ordinary seaman, and

Marines’ for ‘their gallantry, order, anddiscipline displayed.’ To CaptainHenderson and First LieutenantWilliam H. Freeman, Stewartspecifically noted that he owed ‘hisgrateful thanks for the lively and well-directed fire kept up by thedetachment under their command.’

This single engagement by theConstitution benefitted Hendersongreatly. He was awarded $400 in prizemoney and a silver medal, ordered byCongress, to commemorate the battle.(That medal is currently housed at theCommandant’s House, MarineBarracks, 8th and I Streets, Washington,D.C.) Of greater importance toHenderson, however, was his brevetpromotion to major, dated August 1814.Six years later, Navy Secretary SmithThompson appointed ArchibaldHenderson ‘Lieutenant ColonelCommanding and Commandant, UnitedStates Marine Corps.’

In the 1830s, South Carolina andNew York began honoring their nativesons who had distinguished themselvesin the War of 1812. Virginia followed suitand authorized the purchase of anumber of presentation swords. TheArmy-Navy Chronicle, Vol. VIII of 1839,made the following notation:

On Friday last, Mr. Ratcliffe offereda joint resolution in the House, votinga sword to Col. Henderson, the gallantcommander of the Marine Corps of theUnited States, who so distinguishedhimself in the late war with GreatBritain at sea. The resolution wasunanimously adopted in the House,and on Saturday, the following day,passed unanimously in the Senate.Col. Henderson particularlydistinguished himself on board thefrigate Constitution, as Captain ofMarines, when that vessel engagedand captured the British sloops of warCyane and Levant.

The Ames Sword Company ofMassachusetts had gained a sterlingreputation for the craftsmanship ofmagnificent presentation swords, whichwere used as tokens of esteem, given bya grateful nation, a state legislature, orlocal citizens. Crafted of gold and silver,they were ornate, beautifully engraved,and often bejeweled. When the State ofVirginia authorized the purchase ofpresentation swords to be given to itsnative sons, Nathan Peabody Ameshoped to obtain that commission. InJanuary 1839, Ames travelled toWashington, D.C., and met severalArmy and Navy officers who examined anumber of different presentationswords. Exhibition of a sword crafted bythe Ames Sword Company in honor ofLieutenant David Turner, USN, provedinstrumental in obtaining the contract.Virginia commissioned seven swords ata cost of $600 each. In May, twoadditional swords were added to thecontract. Of the nine recipients,Henderson was the only Marine to behonored.

The sword and scabbard presented to ColHenderson. Photo: Kathy Reesey

Even at this early date,Marine marksmen wereknown to be among thebest in the world.


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the front of the blade is an array ofarms: two snakes intertwined with ashield and an eagle-pommeled sword.Engraved on the reverse of the bladeis another eagle with its wingsinverted. A second collection ofweapons is depicted, including ahelmet, an eagle-pommeled sword,and two crossed naval cannon. Thename ‘N. E. Ames, Springfield’ isclearly visible.

The swords were completed by1841. Virginia Governor ThomasWalker Gilmore of Virginia set 22February, George Washington’sbirthday, as the date for presentation.The city of Richmond hosted the event.Newspapers of the day carried word ofthe festivities, even remarking on the‘heavy traffic’ seen in the city. TheSouthern Literary Messenger devotedseveral columns to the event anddescribed the festivities in great detail:

With the exception of the welcomegiven to the good Lafayette, it isprobable that the Metropolis of Virginiawas never graced with a moreimposing assemblage, nor the scene of

more interesting ceremonies, thanoccurred on 22nd February, 1841, thebirthday of the father of this Country . .. As it happened, General Harrison, thePresident-elect of the United States,and John Tyler, the vice-president electwere both present on the occasion. Themilitary of the city, in their best andmost brilliant array, added splendor tothe spectacle; and the Metropolitanfair, by their presence and theircharms, were not backward in givinglife and animation to the scene . . . Col.Henderson, the present commander ofthe United States Marine Corps, is thelast in order on the roll of honor, but byno means last in the consideration ofthose who know him, and know how toappreciate the sterling qualities forwhich his is distinguished . . . it is noidle compliment to say, that Col.Henderson richly deserved the chaplet,which the gratitude of his native statehas entwined around his brow.

Though Henderson was not inattendance at this grand event (hisbrother John had recently died), hekept the sword throughout theremainder of his tenure asCommandant of the Marine Corps.

General Archibald Henderson diedon 6 January 1859. Four days later,The Evening Sun describedHenderson’s funeral:

The deceased was laid out at theGeneral’s quarters in a mahoganycoffin . . . Arranged upon the coffinwere the cap, coat and equipmentsworn by the deceased during his life;the sword being a magnificent weaponpresented to the General while acolonel by the State of Virginia.

Since 1954, the sword presented toColonel Archibald Henderson hasbeen part of the edged weaponscollection of the National Museum ofthe Marine Corps, generously donatedby his great-great-granddaughter,Mrs. Kenneth T. Gordon. Followingconservation, this rare and beautifulsword is scheduled to go on display in2010, when the museum opens threenew galleries covering 1775 throughthe end of World War I, another fittingtribute to ‘The Grand Old Man of theMarine Corps.’

The swords were designed byCaptain Washington Hood of the U.S.Topographical Engineers. Each swordfeatures a solid gold hilt with a fouledanchor in a medallion on the grip. Thelarge langet, an extension of the crossguard, carries the State Seal ofVirginia: Virtue, with sword in hand,her foot on the prostrate figure ofTyranny, whose crown lies nearby. Thewords Sic Semper Tyrannis (thusalways to tyrants) is inscribed above.

The sword designed for Hendersonhad the same features as describedabove for all nine swords but also hadthe following inscribed on the langet ofthe reverse side:

Presented by the State of Virginiato Col. Archibald Henderson of theMarine Corps of the U.S. in testimonyof the high sense entertained by hisnative state of his gallantry & goodconduct in the capture of the Cyane &Levant by the frigate Constitution onthe 20th Feb. 1815 & of his patrioticservice generally during the late warwith Great Britain.

A presentation sword demandedclose attention to the details ofworkmanship. In the 1830s, swords ofthe finest quality might feature two orthree etched panels, featuring floralpatterns, alternating with patrioticmotifs. These designs were carefullysketched and entrusted to the Amesengravers. The sword designed forHenderson was ornately engraved. Aclose examination of the front of theblade reveals the name of the sword’sdesigner, ‘Captain Washington Hood,U.S. Topographical Engineers.’ Afederal style eagle, typical of the AmesSword Company, carries a banner inits beak upon which the motto EPluribus Unum is inscribed. Above theeagle is a sunburst pattern. Also on

The tablet on the scabbard depicts thethree ships in battle. Photo: Kathy Reesey

The Ames SwordCompany ofMassachusetts hadgained a sterlingreputation for thecraftsmanship ofmagnificent presentationswords


Articles

The cannon ofSt. Eustatius

Ruud Stelten

The Caribbean area witnessed aturbulent history throughout the

colonial period. For over three centuriesafter their discovery by Europeans, theWest Indies were drawn into conflictsduring the many wars between theEuropean nations, Great Britain, theNetherlands, France, Spain, Denmark,and Sweden. The Dutch island St.Eustatius, commonly referred to asStatia, was no exception to this.Referred to as ‘the Golden Rock’ in the18th century, this small Caribbeanisland was made into a free port by theDutch in 1754 and quickly became thebusiest and most important transitharbour in the Western Hemisphere inthe following decades. It played acrucial role in the American War ofIndependence, during which merchantson St. Eustatius supplied the NorthAmerican rebels with enormousquantities of arms and ammunition.After a few incredibly prosperousdecades, the economic climate on theisland changed for the worst, and todayhardly anyone knows of its existence.

As a result of the many conflictsfought between the great Europeanpowers in this area, the West Indies arenowadays littered with cannon.Surprisingly little is known about gunsin this region. Recently, however, TheGreat Guns of Barbados waspublished, which shows how promisingcannon research in the Caribbean canbe. In February and March of 2010 acannon survey was conducted on St.Eustatius. A total of 72 guns werelocated, of which 59 were found onland and thirteen were located underwater. The majority are located in situ.On St. Eustatius, guns can be found inmany different places: in forts andbatteries, museums, people’s backyards, embedded in walls, nearshipwrecks, and as isolated artifacts.Cannon of varying calibers were found,ranging from ½-pounder swivel gunsto 24-pounders. These were cast atvarious foundries in at least five

countries. The majority of guns werecast at Finspång (Sweden) and Fossum(Norway). Guns from Ruelle (France),Åkersbruk (Sweden), Heathfield(England), and Carron (Scotland) alsofound their way to Statia. A number ofguns could not be identified withcertainty due to heavy corrosion orencrustation. Cannon found on St.Eustatius were cast between the late17th and late 18th century. A few gunsencountered during this survey werefound to be rare, and previouslyunknown types and marks have cometo light on St. Eustatius.

From old sources it becomes clearthat cannon on Statia hardly playedany significant role in the island’s

Above: Swedish and Scottish guns atFort Oranje.

Below: Underwater cannon at theTwelve Guns site.

The West Indies arenowadays littered withcannon. Surprisinglylittle is known aboutguns in this region


Articles

defence. They were often not fit foruse, and frequently exploded, killingnearby personnel. Often there was noshot or gunpowder available. Thecarriages were rotten and oftencollapsed, and sometimes thereweren’t even any carriages for theguns. Furthermore, the ‘gunners’ thatoperated the cannon were a group ofamateurs lacking proper training. Theresults of the cannon survey confirmthis situation. By examining ordnanceinventories made during the late 18thand early 19th centuries, it waspossible to determine when certainguns were employed at a particularfort or battery. At many fortifications,even newly built ones, guns that weremany decades old were still employed.This explains why the guns of St.Eustatius often did more harm to thepeople operating them than to theships they were firing at. They wereworn out and should have beenreplaced a long time ago. It seemsthat there were two periods in which alot of guns were imported, both timesafter a period of instability andconquest. The first time was duringthe late 17th and early 18th centuriesfollowing three turbulent decades inwhich the island changed hands anumber of times. This was also right

Left: French 1766 pattern gun at FortPanga, cast at Ruelle in France.

Above: Unknown trunnion mark ‘EC’ onwhat probably is a French gun.

It played a crucial role inthe American War ofIndependence, duringwhich merchants on St.Eustatius supplied theNorth American rebelswith enormousquantities of arms andammunition

after the island became the propertyof the Second Dutch West IndiaCompany. The second time was the1780’s, after the island had beensacked by Admiral George BrydgesRodney during the Fourth Anglo-DutchWar and was subsequently conqueredby the French.

The current survey almostcertainly does not include all thecannon that are present on andaround the island. Many moreprobably await discovery at shipwrecksites and at the bottom of the cliffsfrom which they were frequentlythrown off. Future research on St.Eustatius and on other islands in theWest Indies will shed further light onthe military history in this region andcould result in the discovery of manyunknown or rare types of cannon. Foranyone interested in ordnance andmilitary history, St. Eustatius certainlyis a place not to be missed.

AcknowledgementsThis project was made possible withthe help of the St. Eustatius Center forArchaeological Research and a grantfrom the Leids Universitair Fonds. Helpon the identification of the guns wasreceived from Ruth Rhynas Brown,Nico Brinck, and Charles Trollope.

To book please visit our websitewww.royalarmouries.orgor call Jon CopleyT: 0113 220 1888

This interactive study day will examine the process of interpreting pieces recovered frombattlefield sites and especially how to tap in to the wealth of expert knowledge in the fieldof the study of arms and armour.

It will highlight the range of assistance that museum curators and arms and armourspecialists can offer archaeologists, military historians and indeed anyone who has aninterest in interpreting material discovered through battlefield excavations.

Archaeologists and historians eminent in the field of the study of battlefields and relatedsites will discuss aspects of the role which can be played by museum collections and staffin helping interpret objects recovered from them. They will tackle a wide variety offascinating topics covering the period from the Norman Conquest to World War One andsites including the battles of Fulford (1066) and Towton (1461), an Elizabethan wreck offAlderney and The Somme.

The conference will also offer a unique opportunity to examine and discuss battlefieldrelated pieces from the Royal Armouries collections.

Speakers include:Mensun Bound – Triton Fellow in Maritime Archaeology, St Peterʼs College, OxfordMike Corfield – Conservator and former English Heritage Chief ScientistGlenn Foard – Reader in Battlefield Archaeology, University of HuddersfieldAlex Hildred – Curator of Ordnance, Mary Rose TrustCharles Jones – Battlefield researcher and authorMartin Pegler – Historian and authorTony Pollard – Director, Centre for Battlefield Archaeology, University of GlasgowGraeme Rimer – Academic Director, Royal ArmouriesTim Sutherland – Research Fellow, Battlefield Archaeology, University of Glasgow

TICKETS: £35 (including lunch), £25 (without lunch)Concessions (60+ and students): £20 (including lunch), £10 (without lunch)

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