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Illustration of a Lohner L plane.

Short 184 & Lohner L Postcards

By Collections blog

Short 184

The Short 184 was designed to meet a requirement for a torpedo bomber. It was developed from the Short 1913 circuit of Britain airplane with a 225hp Sunbeam Maori engine and was notable for its rearward folding wings and three-float landing gear. A major production programme began in the spring of 1915 involving 9 contractors in addition to Short. A variety of engines powered the Short 184 including the 240hp Renault and Sunbeam units. Production totalled more than 900 aircraft of which 300 were still in service at the end of the Great War.

Lohner L

The Lohner L, a slender, elegant flying boat, was produced by the Jakob Lohner Werke of Vienna. Powered by either a 140hp Hiero or by an Austro-Daimler of 140 or 180hp, this two-seater aircraft could carry up to 200kg of bombs or depth charges and also operate quite effectively as a fighter armed with a Schwarzlose machine-gun on a rotable mounting. It was used in the Austro-Hungarian Navy against Italian targets from 1915 until the end of the war in the reconnaissance, night bombing and anti-shipping roles.

Illustration of Aero 504 plane.

WW1 Plane Postcards

By Collections blog

Rumpler Taube

The Taube or ‘Dove’ was so-called because of its swept-back wing tips and long fan-shaped tail. It had inherent stability, was pleasant to fly and had a reasonable performance. The Rumpler company took over the manufacturing rights from the designer, Etrich, and many makes of Taube were produced by the Albatros, Gotha and Rumpler firms. All civilian versions were pressed into service at the outbreak of the war and, on August 30th 1914, Paris was bombed from Taube with five 6.6lb bombs. In the same month a Rumpler Taube was instrumental in saving the day for the German 8th Army at the Battle of Tannenberg by observing an unexpected Russian advance. Approximately 500 Tauben were built for the German armed forces.

Avro 504

The Avro 504 first appeared in 1913, an airplane considerably in advance of most of its cotemporaries in design, construction and performance, despite this, only 13 Avro’s were used by front-line units in France. One Avro of No.5 Squadron RFC was the first British machine to be brought down by the enemy while another, from the same squadron, armed with a Lewis gun, made the first ground strafing attack of the war during the first Battle of Ypres, October 22nd 1914. The most audacious action by this type occurred two days later when four Avro’s bombed the Zeppelin sheds at Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. Later marks saw some operational service until the Avro 504 came into its own as an excellent training aircraft.

 

A D-Day medal.

WW2 Medals

By Collections blog

The 1939-45 War Medal is a campaign medal which was instituted by the United Kingdom on 16 August 1945, for award to citizens of the British Commonwealth who had served full-time in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy for at least 28 days between 3rd September 1939 and 2nd September 1945.

The duration of the Second World War in Europe was from 3 September 1939 to 8 May 1945, while in the Pacific Theatre it continued until 2 September 1945. Foreign citizens commissioned or enlisted into the British forces, who did not receive a similar award to the War Medal 1939-45 from their own Governments, were also eligible to qualify for the award of this medal.

This D-Day Commemorative badge was made in Paris to remember the soldiers who laid down their lives in an attempt to end the War.

The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War Two. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later western Europe) and laid the foundations of the allied victory on the Western Front.

Botchergate Carlisle with trams running.

Old Postcards of Carlisle

By Collections blog

It is always very interesting to view old postcards of what the local and surrounding areas looked like in the past and how much they have changed throughout time. These postcards of Carlisle date from different time periods showing different parts of the city throughout time.

 

The first postcard shows Botchergate Street in Carlisle sometime around WW1.

 

This shows Carlisle Cathedral from the North Side.

 

The Museum keeps many postcards of the local area and has many more of other towns and villages nearby showing what it might have been like living there during and after the First World War.

 

This  shows the entrance to English Street.

 

These postcards show some of the most recognisable streets in Carlisle that anyone who has been there or lives there would recognise which is why it is so interesting to see how they have changed overtime.

 

 

This postcard is a more recent overview photo of the Citadel and Carlisle Train Station. This postcard also shows the more updated roads and the removal of the tram system, which can be seen in the Botchergate postcard.

Destroyer Medal

Replica WW2 German Badges

By Collections blog

This selection of replica WW2 German Badges are being kept in the Museums store. The three badges include a German E-boat badge, German Destroyer Badge and the German Coastal Artillery Badge.

 

The German E-boat Badge came in three different types, this particular type is referred to as the second type. This was designed by Wilhelm Ernst Peekhaus of Berlin in conjunction with Korvettenkapitan Rudolf Peterson and introduced into service in January 1943, it is not fully understood what the reason was for the change in design other than the second type has a more modern looking E-boat.

 

The German Destroyer Badge was a World War Two German military decoration and awarded to officers and crew for service on Kreigsmarine destroyers. It was instituted on 4th June 1940 by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder following the battle of Narvik. It was also awarded to the crews of torpedo boats and fast attack craft until the institution of the Fast Attack Craft War Badge.

 

The Naval Artillery War Badge or War Badge for the Coastal Artillery was a WW2 German military decoration awarded to the crews of Kriegsmarine land-based marine artillery and anti-aircraft units. It was presented to personnel of coastal defence units, and anti-aircraft units. The award was instituted on 24 June 1941 by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder to reward both the actions of both individuals and crew members. The medal was designed by Otto Placzek of Berlin.

 

Alexander Cumming Death Plaque

Memorial Death Plaques of WW1

By Collections blog

These two Memorial Death Plaques or ‘Death Coins’ from WW1 were given to the families of George Sloan Brown and Alexander Cumming for their sacrifices during the First World War.

It was in October 1916 that the British Government set up a committee for the idea of a commemorative plaque that could be given to the next of kin for those men and women whose deaths were caused by the First World War from 1914-1918.  The first a family would know of the death of a family member was the arrival of a telegram from the War Office. This would then be followed by the First World War Death Plaque and any medals the serviceman would have earned serving his country.

Production of the plaques, which was supposed to be financed by German reparation money, began in 1919 with approximately 1,150,000 issued. They commemorated those who fell between 4th August, 1914 and 10th January, 1920 for home, Western Europe and the Dominions whilst the final date for the other theatres of war or those who died of attributable causes was April 30th 1920.

The next of kin of the 306 British and Commonwealth military personnel who were executed following a Court Martial did not receive a memorial plaque.

Postcard of Gretna township in the past.

Old Postcards of Gretna and Eastriggs

By Collections blog

When HM Factory Gretna was built in WW1 they needed a place to house all of their workers, they came up with the idea to build two new townships near the Factory site. These two townships were Eastriggs and Gretna, many houses and hostels were built to house all of the workers during WW1 some of which you can see in the photo below of Dunedin Road in Eastriggs.

 

 

The photo below shows the temporary wooden huts which were eventually converted into proper houses using brick after the war built in Gretna along with some of the permanent  hostel buildings which have now been converted into houses.

 

 

Below is a photo of the girls reading room which would be used some of the 12,000 female workers who worked at HM Factory Gretna during their spare time. The interior looks very nice but some reports we have of girls who worked at the Factory say that it was very cold inside during the winter as there was no heating.

 

Illustration of Fokker E-111 plane.

Fokker E-111 & Hanriot HD-1

By Collections blog

Hanriot HD-1

Built at first by Rene Hanriot and Pierre Dupont at Billancourt, Paris, this attractive French fighter found little interest with the Aviation Militaire, who did not use it operationally. The Italian Air Force thought otherwise; producing large numbers at the Nieuport-Macchi factory at Varese and adopting the aircraft as its most widely-used fighter, in Italy, Albania and Macedonia. it also equipped the Belgian Aviation Militaire and was used by the French and United States Navies.

Fokker E-111

During the early months of the Great War the Dutchman, Anthony Fokker, supplied three monoplane designs to the German Army. In April 1915 Fokker was asked to develop one of these to be armed with a fixed machine gun firing forwards through the propeller. Three months later an interrupter gear was devised by Fokker and Lubbe and fitter into the Fokker M5k single-seat monoplane already in service. The airplane was then given the military title of Fokker E-1. The E-1 was powered by the 80hp Oberursel rotary engine and was soon replaced by the E-11 and the E-111 both with the 100hp Oberursel. At first, armament was a single Parabellum gun but the standard equipment soon became the Spandau. The E-IV, a larger machine, powered by the 160hp Oberursel was armed with two Spandau’s. The Fokker Eindecker entered service in later 1915 to start the ‘Fokker Scourge’ that gave German’s air superiority. 258 were built and used by the German’s, Austro-Hungarians and Turks. Production ended in July 1916 when the airplane had become thoroughly obsolete.

 

Past archive photo of The Rand, Eastriggs.

Old Postcards of the Local Area

By Collections blog

These old postcards show what life was like in these local towns and villages and how much they’ve changed. We do not have exact dates from when the photos were taken but they show a very different time.

 

 

This postcard shows the Scotch Express leaving Carlisle Train Station which as you can see looks very different in this photo than it does today.

 

The Central Hotel in Annan looks a lot different here. Shame that it has now fallen into disrepair. This postcard also shows how different the roads were back then with no road markings and the roundabout not yet in place.

 

 

This postcard shows what Powfoot looked like quite some time ago. The old sandstone house now being part of the Powfoot Golf Hotel.

 

 

This postcard shows The Rand in Eastriggs and what it looked like with all of the houses built for the workers of HM Factory Gretna and used as hostels. These hostels were all purpose built to house the workers of HM Factory Gretna during the First World War.

A trench art heater.

WW1 Trench Art

By Collections blog

This WW1 Trench Art from the Museums store shows what soldiers could create with used objects while they were stuck in the trenches.

 

The first item is an Ash Tray which has been made from the bottom of a shell. As you can see some of the pieces of the shell have been melted and folded outwards to fit cigarettes in them.

The next item is what we think is a lamp or heater. But could also possible be another ash tray looking at the design.

 

Trench art is any decorative item made by soldiers, prisoners of war or civilians where the manufacture was directly linked to armed conflict or its consequences. It offers an insight into not only their feelings and emotions about the war, but also their surroundings and the materials they had available to them.

 

Not limited to the World Wars, the history of Trench Art spans conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to the present day. Although the practice flourished during World War One, the term ‘trench art’ is also used to describe souvenirs manufactured by service personnel during World War Two. Some items manufactured by soldiers, prisoners of war or civilians during earlier conflicts have been retrospectively described as trench art.

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