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.
This WW2 Red Cross Medic Satchel is being kept in the Museums store, this would have been used by medics during the Second World War to heal soldiers wounds during battle. This satchel would usually only contain dressings to cover soldiers wounds and stop them from bleeding.
We thought that we would do some more research and find out what other equipment WW2 Medics had to carry around to try and save as many men as possible. This satchel would usually contain 12 dressings. Other items which a medic may carry include, A water bottle most likely used to clean the wounds or hydrate injured soldiers, a box of 5 morphine syrette’s which used to be injected into soldiers to reduce the pain they were suffering after receiving a wound, this would then be pinned to their collar to inform others of the dose administered. They also carried around serums to counteract against things like tetanus (which would be contracted if the soldiers had an open wound while out in the muddy fields and trenches) and gas gangrene which can be fatal and can be caused by an infection deep inside your body in muscles or organs which made the serums vital to save lives.
These items along with a few others left the medics well equipped to deal with most injuries sustained on the battlefield and helped save the lives of thousands of injured soldiers.
This First World War bayonet was recently brought into the Museum by one of our volunteers and is an American M1917 bayonet which was used in World War One, World War Two, Korean War and in the Vietnam War.
It was first used by American soldiers in WW1 on the Western Front. A sword bayonet design, the M1917 bayonet design was based on the British pattern 1913 bayonet. While designed specifically for the M1917 rifle, the bayonet was fitted for use on all the ‘trench’ shotguns at the time. The US continued to use the WW1-made M1917 bayonets during World War Two because of large stockpiles left over. The new trench guns being procured and issued were still designed to use the old M1917 bayonet.
The bayonet was then called upon again during the Korean war for issue due to the various trench guns still being in use. In 1966 procurement orders were let for brand new production M1917 bayonets. Stockpiles had finally run out, and new Winchester 1200 trench shotguns were being issued. These were issued in limited quantities during the Vietnam War. It was not until towards the end of the Vietnam War that new military shotguns were designed to use the newer knife bayonets.
M1917 bayonets were still used by the US Army as late as the early 2000’s for use with the M1200 shotgun.
The First Floor of the Museum includes displays looking at the Bombing of Gretna in 1941 and the role of Civil Defence and Air Raid Precaution Wardens in World War Two.
Displays within the Museum focusing on Air Raids in World War Two.
This interesting little booklet is currently stored in the Museum’s object store. It includes instructions on what to do ‘If Incendiary Bombs come’, ‘If Gas comes’, a rundown of different gases and their effects as well as suggestions on decontamination and the care of respirators. We’ve copied it here in full.
The Museum has a selection of books available from its online shop which may interest you:
https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/shop-online
While the Ground Floor of the Museum looks at HM Factory Gretna in World War One, our First Floor galleries consider the impact of conflict on our local area from 1939 onwards. Many (but not all) of these displays look at the life of women and children in the War including a look at evacuees, life on the Home Front and work done by women in munitions and organisations such as the ATS.
We have many objects in our Museum object store which relate to these topics such as a collection of Housewife Magazine from World War Two. Despite the old fashioned title and imagery, these images have a certain nostalgia charm.
Some of the adverts from within the magazine are also of interest and give one an insight into life during the Second World War.
Come and visit us when it is safe to do so! Here is a photo of a visitor enjoying a look at our 1940s kitchen.
If you’d like to know more about World War Two in our region, the following book may be of interest:
The Devil’s Porridge Museum joined in the nation’s commemorations of the 75th anniversary of VE Day on Friday. This event (which we participated in digitally) has brought forward some more memories and photos which we wanted to share with you.
The photograph below shows Ettie Wilsenham celebrating VE Day on Friday at her home in Eastriggs (the windows have been covered with red, white and blue fabric in place of a British flag which they weren’t able to source during lockdown).
Ettie was working in Eastriggs depot when the War ended, she actually took the call from the Brigadier and did a great job going round all the magazines to break the news to everyone that the War was over.
People working in the ammunition storage depot during World War Two.
Ettie has a lot of connections to the Museum: she was once one of our volunteers and she features in our display about the Eastriggs depot. The story of her marriage also featured in our ‘Love in Wartime’ exhibition as recounted below.
Ettie joined the war effort aged 16 when she secured a job in Eastriggs Depot in 1942. While she was there, she met Arthur who was a soldier in the Ordnance Corps, assigned to guard the Grade 4 stores.
“Every so often when I was working at those stores, Arthur would slip me a bar of chocolate. What with the rationing and chocolate being so scarce, I was won over! We married in 1945 [on June 7th] after the war with Germany was ended.”
Thanks so much to Ettie and Ann for sharing this account and to Dot for organising for it to be shared with the Museum.
If you would like to know more about World War Two in this region, the following book from our online shop may be of interest to you:
The Devil’s Porridge Museum has several gas masks in its collection, some date from World War One but the majority were made during World War Two. We have two ‘baby’ gas masks. One is on display in the Museum’s First Floor Second World War galleries and the other is in our object store (it was recently donated to the Museum and is unusual in that it came in its original box).
We are also fortunate to have a document in the Museum collection which went with gas masks such as these when they were issued. It provides lots of interesting information such as:
-they were issued to the mother on the birth of a child
-the gas mask was issued by he local council and was government property
-it was expected that it would be returned (obviously some weren’t)
-masks such as this were meant to be used for children up to the age of two
Poisoned gas was widely used in World War One and, although its use was banned under the terms of a 1925 Geneva Protocol, both sides in World War Two anticipated its use by their enemies and prepared accordingly. Changes to aerial warfare meant that civilians could have been targeted and poison gas could have had a devastating impact had it been used on a large urban area. Fortunately, neither Britain or Germany used poisoned gas on one another during the War (although its possible use was discussed by both sides).
It is estimated that nearly 40 million gas masks were issued during World War Two. During a recent oral history project, the Museum spoke with a lady from Carlisle, who is now in her 90s. She remembered getting in trouble for dragging her gas mask along the ground on the way to school. Her treatment of this piece of (potentially) lifesaving equipment was so careless that she had to have it replaced several times.
The Museum has another gas mask specifically aimed at children on display, this is the ‘Mickey Mouse’ gas mask. Thankfully gas masks were not used in Britain in World War Two but serve as a grim reminder of the possible horrors of war and the amazing gift of peace in Europe which was achieved on VE Day 75 years ago.
Young visitors (photos above) enjoy putting on replica gas masks (these are completely safe, some World War Two ones have asbestos in them and should not be worn or handled without testing/careful controls).
If you’re interested in the experiences of children in World War Two, the following may be of interest to you:
This card was issued to a worker at ICI Powfoot which was built during the Second World War. The worker which the card was given to lived in Annan. The Museum has a display within it all about ICI Powfoot and the Broom Lassies who worked there during the Second World War.
This is the front of the Membership Card which was given to all of the workers at ICI Powfoot.
In 1940 the government were looking for somewhere to build a munitions factory, they once again looked towards the Solway as an area to build their factory due to the easy access to water and good railway access to transport munitions to other parts of the country. The Ministry of Supply was responsible for ensuring there were ample supplies of explosive propellants for filling guns, shells and rifle cartridges at Royal Ordnance Factories across Britain. Thus, the Ministry worked closely with the experts of the privately-owned Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) to manufacture the required propellants and high explosives.
This shows the inside of the Membership Card and the details of the worker who owned it.
In early 1940, the Broom Farmhouse and outbuildings near the Victorian fishing village of Powfoot, was requisitioned by the Ministry of Supply to be used as the site for ICI Powfoot. Construction began in Spring 1940, with Edinburgh based firm A.M. Carmichael contracted to build the factory, drafting in over 600 tradesmen from both sides of the Border to ensure the site was operational by Spring 1941.
This is a photo of ICI Powfoot from above and what it looks like today.
At its peak the factory employed over 4000 people, most of which were female. The female workers at ICI Powfoot became known as the Broom Lassies as the factory was built on Broom Farm. almost 90% of single women and 80% of married women were employed in essential work for the war effort. Many women in the Annan area were forced to leave their jobs in other industries and were conscripted to work in local munitions factories, predominately ICI Powfoot.
The following books/booklets on this subject are available from the Museum’s online shop:
A recent object donation led to the uncovering of a lot of interesting information…
An Air Raid Precaution (or ARP) whistle from World War Two was recently donated to Museum. It was found in 1964 by the donor, an avid trainspotter, when he was just 14 years old. He found it at the bottom of a railway wagon (in a pile of old grease).
The railway line as seen from the Signal Box (photo courtesy D.Wilson).
The rolling stock had been left on a railway siding near Shankend on the Old Waverley Line, eleven miles South of Hawick and had interesting markings on the side of it which is why he thought the whistle should be donated to The Devil’s Porridge Museum with its focus on the history of Longtown, Gretna, Eastriggs and surrounding areas in both World Wars and beyond. On the wagon was written “W.D.Ordnance Gretna” with faded red “Explosives” warnings on each side of it.
In World War Two, Eastriggs and Longtown were the site of ammunition stores (or depots) and we know munitions were transported from them to the North African Campaigns, to Normandy for D-Day and to the USSR via the Atlantic Convoys.
Munitions storage at either Eastriggs or Longtown depot (photograph probably after World War Two).
The Arctic convoys transported items to the USSR (including munitions which had been stored at Eastriggs and Longtown).
It seems munitions regularly travelled north from our region as the object donor writes,
“…during WW2, at night freight trains came up from Gretna Munitions Depot, and the wagons full of various Munitions were hidden in the…[mile long] Whitrope Tunnel…to protect them from being bombed…” The whistle was found in a wagon that had been abandoned after derailing during the War, it may have belonged to one of the workers from Gretna who came to reload the train after the accident.
ARP display within The Devil’s Porridge Museum.
We certainly found it interesting to place the work done here in the context of the wider war and one of our volunteers shared another interesting bit of information about this section of railway line. It is located near Stobs, which was a World War One POW internment camp. Several years ago, a BBC Sound Recordist went to the railway to record steam engines but when he listened back to his recording he could hear German voices on the tape and was amazed to discover he had been standing near the cemetery where German POWs had been buried all those years ago.
For more on Stobs POW camp see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stobs_Military_Camp
If you are interested in the History of World War Two in this region, this book (available from our online shop), may be of interest to you:
