Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
buttons on the uniform collars of their ceremo-
nial tunics and the Rifl e Regiments marching
pace of 140 paces to the minute refers back to
this era (British Army, 2007a). The Gurkhas
have subsequently fought for the British in both
world wars and served all over the world includ-
ing Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, Cyprus, the
Falklands, Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone,
and currently in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Their bravery on the battlefi eld has been
acknowledged by their award of 13 Victoria
Crosses with a further 13 being awarded to Gur-
kha offi cers. Whilst the Brigade could have com-
pletely disappeared as part of any of the recent
reviews, it has been retained for practical as well
as more emotional reasons. In fact, with the Brit-
ish Army deployed all over the world, culturally
the Gurkhas' gaze may be more acceptable to
some than that of other British soldiers.
same as those found in many other regimental
museums starting as a collection of items taken
as souvenirs or as trophies together with equip-
ment that had become outdated and which had
found its way into storage, not unlike the attics
of most family homes. For many the regiment
and its material artefacts
is
home and these
objects represent not only the family history but
its cultural origins, which in the case of the Gur-
kha Museum is Nepal for the soldiers and the
UK for its offi cers. The museum therefore clearly
provides benefi t to the regiment although unlike
other regimental and corps museums it does not
serve to encourage recruitment, as only Nepal-
ese serve as soldiers although it may serve to
persuade potential British offi cers to enlist.
The aim of the museum is to commemo-
rate the service to the crown of the Gurkha and
the British offi cer from 1815 to the present day.
The museum faces the challenge of not only
representing the rich history of the corps but
also needs to remind a post-empire Britain of
who these soldiers are and where they come
from, and explain why these Nepalese men
hold their place at the heart of the British army.
Whilst many of the early visitors to the museum
may have been ex-soldiers or people directly
related to someone involved in the last war with
a working knowledge of the British army, today's
visitor by contrast may not know any members
of the armed service because of the smaller
number of people involved. In addition, knowl-
edge of the Gurkha let alone Nepal may be lim-
ited, although the publicity surrounding the
recent (February 2007) review of Gurkha Terms
and Conditions of Service may have served to
heighten awareness. In this respect army muse-
ums may have to cater for a wider range of
needs than most museums, as they clearly have
a responsibility to their regiment as well as the
Ministry of Defence and the general public (Ste-
phens, 2006). The test for the Gurkha museum
is to stay true to its aim whilst providing a con-
text that is both informative and presented in an
interesting manner to the visitor who may not
possess a military background. As Jones (1996,
p. 154) suggests, 'The challenge facing the cura-
tor of regimental collections is to locate mean-
ings for them which render them relevant to
broad audiences.'
At fi rst glance, the Gurkha Museum in Win-
chester may appear to be similar to many if not
The Gurkha Museum, Winchester
The fi rst established Gurkha museum started
life as a Nissan Hut inside the Queen Elizabeth's
Barracks, Church Crookham, which opened on
21 June 1974 (Davis, personal correspondence).
Increased security following terrorist activity tar-
geting military establishments on mainland Brit-
ain affected civilian visits to the camp, as in
order to reach the museum visitors had to book
in and out of the camp itself and had to submit
to car searches, which implies that prospective
visitors needed to make a real effort to visit the
museum. It might therefore not be unreason-
able to assume that the 'non-army' visitor to the
museum must have had some military connec-
tion or specifi c interest in the Gurkhas to go to
that much trouble; in other words, the museum
was not chanced upon by visitors or tourists.
The modernization of the British army and its
subsequent regimental amalgamation made the
closure of Church Crookham inevitable and the
move to historic Peninsula Barracks, Winchester,
a reality. The new Gurkha museum opened in
Winchester in July 1990 providing more space
and unrestricted access for the general public,
effectively opening up the life of the Gurkha to
a new public, namely the tourist.
The origins of the artefacts in the Gurkha
museum (Asquith, 2000a, 2000b) are much the
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