King's Own Royal Regiment Museum

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 You must seek permission prior to publication of any of our images.

The Great War 1914-1918

Exhibits

Piece of Hessian (sacking) with label addressed to Private Thomas Walker, number 16456, 9th Battalion, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, Prisoner of War, Bulgaria.  Private Walker was listed as missing in January 1916.  The parcel contained 'food' and is dated 24th September 1918.  This item was found in the upholstery of a chair and donated to the museum in 1979 by a lady in Windermere.  Clearly the Hessian has been reused in the manufacture of the chair.
Accession Number: KO1240/01

Bayonet periscope.
Accession Number: KO1567/01

‘Major Verners’ patent portable plane-table used by Lieutenant Hardy of the 1st Battalion in France August 1914.
Accession Number: KO0985/01

Telescope used by Major T W Harley whilst with the 9th Battalion.
Accession Number: KO1853/03

8th Battalion tenor drum plaque
April 1st to October1st 1916 Presented to the 8th Battalion King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment by Brigadier General R J Kentish DSO Commanding the 76th Infantry Brigade to mark his appreciation of the gallantry and devotion to duty of every Officer and NCO and Private during the period he had the privilege to command the Brigade of which the 8th Battalion King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment formed part.
Accession Number: KO0607/01

Palm Cross given to RSM Bowles whilst in hospital in Mesopotamia in 1917.
Accession Number: KO1032/01

1903 Pattern leather bandolier.
Accession Number: KO1546/01

Boulogne Chamber of Commerce 50 Centimes note.
Accession Number: KO2061/16

Leather holster for Webley Mark 1 Revolver.
Accession Number:  KO0319/03

Early gas helmet worn by donor whilst with the 1st Battalion in 1916.
Accession Number:  KO0014/02

Entrenching tool.
Accession Number: KO1685

Officer’s compass and leather case.
Accession Number: KO1281/04

‘Shrapnel proof’ steel helmet with painted King’s Own badge.
Accession Number: KO1222

German bugle picked up by the donor whilst serving as a Lieutenant with the 49th Canadian Infantry Battalion near the village of Deminin during the Battle of Amiens, 8th August 1918.
Accession Number:  KO0360/01

Sabot (clog), as worn by Belgian peasants, found near the scene of the Battle of Hill 60 at Ypres in 1915.

 

Bandolier taken from Arabs in 1917-18.
Accession Number:  KO0139/01B

German officer’s cigar case found in France, October 1918.
Accession Number: KO0364

German field telephone brought home by donor after he was wounded on 20th February 1915 at Ypres. He served with B Company 2nd Battalion King’s Own.
Accession Number: KO0661/01

German field gun sight.
Accession Number:  KO0198/01

Clock from the Sergeants’ Mess of the 2/5th Battalion used during World War One.
Accession Number:  KO1004

Bottle containing a message from ‘the boys of the King’s Own (R.L.R)’ to the Editor of the Daily Mirror. Thrown into the sea from a troopship going to France in August 1914, the bottle was picked up from the North Sea by a Grimsby trawler 6th March 1922. The message read:
‘Well on the way to the front line. Just seen the last of England. Mean to fight like Britons. Hope to see Leicester Square again shortly.
From the boys of the King’s Own (R.L.R). 22 Aug 1914’
Four days after the message was written the Battalion was caught in heavy machine gun fire. There were over 400 casualties.
Accession Number:  KO0151/01.

 
Tea Ration Tin which saved the life of donor, Sergeant T J Williams, at the engagement on 23rd April 1915 at St Julien, Belgium, whilst serving with the 1st/5th Battalion, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment.
Accession Number: KO0798/01

 
Cocoa tin which saved the life of donor, Sergeant T J Williams, at the engagement on 23rd April 1915 at St Julien, Belgium, whilst serving with the 1st/5th Battalion, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. 
Accession Number: KO0798/02

Gift, probably of sweets, 'To our Fighting Heroes, with Best Wishes from British Grocers Federation, Xmas 1914'
Accession Number: KO1934/07

Princess Mary gift box given to soldiers in Christmas 1914. Containing a card with either cigarettes and tobacco or chocolate.
Accession Number: KO2046/04

‘The Princess Mary’s Sailor’s and Soldier’s Christmas Fund.’
In October 1914 the Princess Mary issued an appeal for funds in order that a Christmas gift might be sent to all the soldiers and sailors at the front on Christmas Day 1914. The standard gift consisted an embossed brass box, one ounce of pipe tobacco, twenty cigarettes, a pipe, a tinder lighter, a Christmas card and a signed photo of Princess Mary. A non-smoker’s gift was also produced which included a packet of sweets and a khaki writing case with stationery.

    
Cigarette spirit lighter, made by Asprey of London.
Accession Number KO1793/01

Pipe issued to Major Lionel I Cowper, King's Own.
Accession Number: KO0729/01

Tobacco pouch received by Sergeant Baker of D Company, 2nd Battalion.
Accession Number:  KO1458/02

Gift box presented to Private H Rawes from Morecambe.
Gift of Miss M Rawes. KO2046/04

First Field Dressing carried by every soldier.
Accession Number: KO1281/02

Duty Officers Dice, thrown daily by the duty officer when being briefed by the Adjutant. It determined at what time, during the night, they should ‘turn out the guard’.
Accession Number: KO0911/01

‘Clip’ of .303 bullets as used in rifles.

Active Service editions of the Gospels according to Saint Mark, issued to Private H Rawes of the 1/5th Battalion, and Saint Matthew.
Accession Number:  KO2046/08 KO1722/09

Trench candlestick made from the base of a shell.
Accession Number: . KO0429/11

Aerial bomb.

German ‘anti-tank’ shell found in France, October 1918.
Accession Number: KO0135/01

Mills hand-grenade made by Bryants of Birmingham, November 1915.
Accession Number:  KO0429/07

Snake made by a Prisoner of War.
Accession Number: KO2080/03

Turkish Medallion - collected as a war souvenir by the donor in 1917-18.
Accession Number:  KO0139/04

French and English Shell Noses
Accession Number: KO0429/03 & 04

Soldiers’ Identity Discs to J Bates
Accession Number: KO1385/01

Identity bracelet of Private W Thompson of the 1/5th Battalion.
Accession Number:  KO1898/09

Identity bracelet of 2nd Lieutenant Ingmire.
Accession Number:  KO2079/02

Firearms

Lee Metford Rifle, manufactured by Birmingham Small Arms Company.
Accession Number: KO0317/01

Short Magazine Lee Enfiled Mark Three Rifle, dated 1916.
Accession Number: KO1721/03

German Luger pistol, 1917.
Accession Number:  KO0847

Canadian Ross Rifle. This rifle often proved troublesome in muddy conditions, which were typical of the Western Front. It was extensively used for sniping purposes.
Accession Number: KO1003/18

Mark One Long Lee Enfield Rifle with bayonet. Extensively used by the British Army during the First World War.
KO1721/05 & KO0765/12

Bone ornaments carved in prisoner of war camps.

Safety razor and paper knife made from bones found in the soup issued in a German Prisoner of War Camp in 1915 by Sergeant C Oldcorn.
Accession Number:  KO0168/02 & 03

     
This bone featuring a rose and leaves is marked '1914 Remembrance 1915' and 'Made in POW Camp, Vieteck, 1803, Lancaster'.
Accession Number: KO2590/407

  
Featuring the Regimental Lion and 'The King's Own Royal Regiment' on one side and 'E. Smith. Lieutenant, 5th King's Liverpool Regmt. Lancaster Camp 1914-15' on the other, the sender of the postcard below.
Accession Number: KO2590/406

© Images are copyright, Trustees of the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum.
 You must seek permission prior to publication of any of our images.