November’s Object of the Month (OOTM) was chosen by another of our work experience students; Adam. He chose further items from the Private Alfred Franklin collection – many of these objects were also displayed in our Oxfordshire Remembers Part II exhibition, which has now finished.Adam chose a letter detailing Franklin’s struggle with Spanish Flu, with two photographs and his forage cap displayed alongside. I think that whilst displaying one object…
October’s Object of the Month (OOTM) started well, as I forgot to photograph it. The images attached to this blog post are from the object itself, and I printed them out alongside for the display.The object was a notebook of recipes from Gunner L H Webster, who was born in Oxford and attended the Army School of Cookery in Weymouth in the August of 1915. I liked this notebook for…
September’s Object of the Month (OOTM) was a recent acquisition to the museum, and one of my personal favourites! They are wooden models of buildings in the Oxfordshire town of Deddington, used by the local Air Raid Precautions to plan their operations during the Second World War.This object was great fun to display as I had free reign to arrange it as I wished! No wonder the previous owner’s children…
As part of their work experience this year, two students Oscar and Oliver chose to display a No32 telescopic rifle sight for the Lee Enfield No4T as the Object of the Month (OOTM).The sight was a slightly awkward object to display due to the various dials and fixtures that prevented it lying flat! As the OOTM case has to be moved around a lot to switch the lights on, I…
This set of models was used by the Deddington Air Raid Precautions (ARP) to plan their operations during WW2. Later becoming the Civil Defence Service, the ARP were responsible for keeping their local area safe during an air raid. Their jobs included enforcing blackouts, preparing the air raid sirens, and directing people to safety in their shelters. These models could be used to plan strategies in the event of fires…
Today we were donated a leaflet about the multi-use ‘Kredemnon’, a WW2 version of the more modern snood. It seems like it was a very versatile garment – you can even ‘Make a skirt of it while your clothes are drying’!The leaflet wishes ‘Good Luck’ to those brave soldiers who wanted to try it out…Do you have any 1930’s – 1970’s items that are related to Oxfordshire soldiers? SOFO are currently…
Lance Corporal Hodgkins was part of the volunteers attached to the 1st Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He served in Second Boer War in South Africa from 1901-1902, and later served in WWI.Although we do not hold much information on Hodgkins in our soldier database; his objects reveal some interesting insights into his life. The first image shows a collection of objects owned by Hodgkins: a pocket…
Private Thomas Edward Taylor (201095) worked as a hairdresser in Oxford before joining the 2/4th Battalion of the OBLI in October 1914. He was the barber of the battalion until he was honourably discharged aged 26 in 1918 as being ‘no longer fit for war’. He was later awarded the Silver War Badge for his service. Upon his return to England Taylor set up his own business in Oxford, and…
Frederick Brooks, or ‘Freddie’ as he was known, was born in St Giles, Reading in March of 1881. Employed as a general labourer, he was originally enlisted to the 6th Royal Berkshire Regiment, but later transferred to the 4th Battalion then 6th Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He saw service in France and Flanders from 1st Sept 1917, and was awarded both the British War and Long…
