Visitors to Firepower can take a look at an Honest John nuclear missile and launcher
The Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich is one of the oldest military museums in the world. Reporter DAN KEEL finds out more.
MORE than two million men and women have served in the Royal Regiment of Artillery since it was established in 1716.
Its museum, known as Firepower, tells the story of the gunners and their extraordinary experiences.
Firepower, based in Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, is one of the oldest military museums in the world and first opened to the public in 1820.
The displays and memorabilia which it holds provide a timeline of guns and artillery through the ages.
This story starts with a 2,000-year-old Roman catapult and ends with some of the nuclear
missiles and guns which are in front-line
service with the British Army today.
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One of the museum's main attractions is a ground-shaking Field of Fire audio-visual show which gives visitors an insight into the experience of a gunner as shells and aircraft fly overhead and guns roar all around.
Meanwhile, old uniforms, diaries and smaller, personal items give a human scale to the hardware on display and help portray what life as a gunner was' or is' really like.
Life-size reconstructions help bring the museum's collection to life
A grant of £25,000 was donated to the museum earlier in the year by grant-making trust the Foyle Foundation.
The money will hopefully pay for the costs
involved in maintaining the library and archives for one year.
Firepower's chief operating officer, Eileen Noon, said: "We are most grateful to the Foyle Foundation for this grant.
"It will enable us to continue our conservation programme and preserve our heritage for future generations.
"Funding will be used for the upkeep of the climate control system which is essential for preserving the sensitive material within the collection."
The museum's library consists of work from as far back as the 16th Century which all relates to the history and science of artillery.
Its archives contain pamphlets, manuals,
personal and technical papers, photographs and documents, together with British Army
artillery unit records from the 18th Century to the present day.
They also contain more than 5,000 separate collections donated to the museum by the regiment's members and former members as well as documents from the Ministry of Defence and the general public.
This vast collection was recently awarded
accreditation status by the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council.
The Foyle Foundation, which donated the money, is an independent grantmaking trust which distributes grants to UK charities whose core work is in the areas of learning, the arts and health.
Chief Executive of the foundation David
Hall said: "The Foyle Foundation's trustees
approved a grant of £25,000 towards one year's non-staff running costs of the library and archive of the museum.
"The funds were pledged to help maintain this important library and archive while the museum negotiates longer term funding from the Ministry of Defence."
For more information about Firepower Royal Artillery Museum, visit firepower.org.uk, call 020 8855 7755 or email info@firepower.org.uk
Since News Shopper's website story about Firepower, Greenwich Council have decided to give the cash-strapped museum £60,000 to help save it from closure.
A council report said the museum has not been able to achieve sustainability and its £120,000 shortfall means cash is urgently needed for salaries and wages.
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