Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
positive image of the Army'. This is particularly
important in an era when the total strength of
those serving in the British Armed Forces is
declining (MOD, 2008). Whilst a recent Mori
poll (Ipsos MORI, 2008) places familiarity with
the British army as 'fairly high' with those with
serving friends or relatives tending to be more
informed, this knowledge is perhaps unsurpris-
ingly, less pronounced in the young. MOD pol-
icy is trying to overcome this by broadening
access to military museums to a younger gen-
eration by providing educational resources 'with
particular reference to the national curriculum'
(MOD, 1998, p. 10). This is in keeping with the
Department of Culture, Media and Sports
(DCMS) current priorities for museums (DCMS,
2006, p. 10), whereby museums will 'fulfi l their
potential as learning resources'. Nevertheless,
despite this ambition to reach out to a wider
public, the MOD acknowledges that the inter-
pretation of military history is a sensitive area
and recognizes the potential diversity of its audi-
ence which can include 'the specialist and parti-
san, the general and the uninformed, as well as
the hostile and anti-military' (MOD, 1998,
p. 2).
The specialist visitor may indeed relate to
the second of the MOD's objectives for these
types of museums, namely to 'contribute to the
esprit de corps of the regiments and corps'
(MOD, 1998, p. 10). As corps museums tell the
history of the regiment, new recruits are tradi-
tionally taken there as part of their induction
and basic training to be shown the regimental
artefacts and material history of the regiment
(Stephens, 2006). They serve therefore as
expressions of the continuity of the past whilst
educating recruits and creating a sense of pride
and comradeship, which may as Jones (1996,
p. 152) suggests 'enable it to fi ght more effec-
tively'. Regimental and corps museums have
both military and social signifi cance and as such
also form part of the range of leisure and tour-
ism activities available to both domestic and
overseas visitors.
Although it is diffi cult to put an exact fi gure
on visitor numbers to military museums, tour-
ism associated with battlefi elds and war is a
vibrant sector of the market both domestically
and internationally. Britain's military past has
even given rise to specialist tour operators who
provide battlefi eld and history tours where
tourists can go 'Walking with Wellington' in Por-
tugal or Spain or on a more personal note on
the Somme, France, they can 'visit a particular
battlefi eld area, cemetery or memorial, because
of its importance in your family's history' (Holts
Tours, 2008, p. 5). The wide assortment of mili-
tary associated attractions includes war memo-
rials and cenotaphs, mausoleums, historical
re-enactments and museums displaying medals,
weapons, uniforms and dioramas of battlefi elds.
Smith (1996, p. 248) goes as far as to suggest
that, 'memorabilia of warfare and allied prod-
ucts . . . probably constitutes the largest single
category of tourist attractions in the world'.
Alongside attractions such as the Cathedral
and King Arthur's Round Table, Winchester's
six military museums are listed on the city's
Tourist Information section of its website (Win-
chester City Council, 2008). One of these, the
Gurkha Museum, is the focus of this chapter.
Background to the Gurkha
Today the Gurkhas have a unique place within
the armed forces and their cultural heritage.
Their connection with the British Army who
regarded the Gurkha as a 'martial race' (Streets,
2004), thought to be naturally warlike and
aggressive in battle, dates back to when after
suffering from heavy casualties in the invasion
of Nepal in 1815, the Treaty of Segauli was
signed which gave the British army the right to
recruit Nepalese subjects (Parker, 1999). Fol-
lowing the partition of India in 1947, an agree-
ment between India, Nepal and Britain meant
that four Gurkha regiments from the Indian
army were transferred to the British army even-
tually becoming the Gurkha Brigade, whose
famous motto is: 'Kaathar hunnu bhanda
marnu ramro - It is better to die than be a cow-
ard'. The Royal Gurkha Rifl es today consists of
the Brigade of Gurkhas, which comprises of two
battalions including support from its own signal,
logistic and engineer troops. Whilst the brigade
has affi liations with the King's Royal Hussars
and the Royal Scots, its origin as a Rifl e Regi-
ment began with an association dating back to
the days of the Indian Mutiny with the 60th
Rifl es known as the Royal Green Jackets who
now form part of the newly formed Rifl es. The
characteristic rifl e-green uniform and black
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