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Combined Military Services Museum
The Combined Military Services Museum in Maldon, Essex, was opened on 5 July 2004. Richard Wooldridge set it up to house a personal collection he had created over many years. A charity was established in 1996 to facilitate the funding of a museum building. A suitable property was found in 2001, a former bonded warehouse in Maldon. This underwent considerable modification to suit its new purpose. During the period of setting up the museum, the initial collection was expanded by donations and acquisitions. In 2007, a National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lottery grant was given to extend the museum to house the Donnington Historic Weapons Collection. These works were completed in November 2008. Amongst the items in the museum is a Cockle Mark II canoe from the "cockleshell heroes" raid, Operation Frankton, and a large collection of Special Operations Executive (SOE) equipment and the Donnington Historic Weapons Collection. The Donnington collection also holds a replica of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maldon
Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced in the area. In 2011 the parish had a population of 14,220 and the district had a population of 61,700. History Early and medieval history The place-name ''Maldon'' is first attested in 913 in the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', where it appears as ''Maeldun''. Maldon's name comes from ''mǣl'', meaning 'monument or cross', and ''dūn'' meaning 'hill', so translates as 'monument hill'. East Saxons settled the area in the 5th century and the area to the south is still known as the Dengie Peninsula after the Dæningas. It became a significant Saxon port with a hythe or quayside and artisan quarters. Evidence of imported pottery from this period has been found in archaeological digs. From 958 there was a royal mint issuing coins for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the south, Greater London to the south-west, and Hertfordshire to the west. The largest settlement is Southend-on-Sea, and the county town is Chelmsford. The county has an area of and a population of 1,832,751. After Southend-on-Sea (182,305), the largest settlements are Colchester (130,245), Basildon (115,955) and Chelmsford (110,625). The south of the county is very densely populated, and the remainder, besides Colchester and Chelmsford, is largely rural. For local government purposes Essex comprises a non-metropolitan county, with twelve districts, and two unitary authority areas: Thurrock Council, Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea City Council, Southend-on-Sea. The districts of Chelmsford, Colchester and Southend have city status. The county H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
War Museum
A military museum or war museum is an institution dedicated to the preservation and education of the significance of wars, conflicts, and military actions. These museums serve as repositories of artifacts (not least weapons), documents, photographs, and other memorabilia related to the military and war. Some of these institutions may also be used as a war memorial for a particular country or conflict. These institutions vary in their scope and focus, with some museums dedicated to a specific national or regional context and chronicling the military history of a particular country or region, while other museums may concentrate on a particular conflict, era, service, technology (like an artillery museum), or unit (like a regimental museum). The following is a list of military museums by country: Austria * Museum of Military History, Vienna * Styrian Armoury Australia * The Army Museum Bandiana, Army Museum Bandiana * Army Museum of Tasmania * Army Museum of Western Australia * Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maldon, Essex
Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced in the area. In 2011 the parish had a population of 14,220 and the district had a population of 61,700. History Early and medieval history The place-name ''Maldon'' is first attested in 913 in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', where it appears as ''Maeldun''. Maldon's name comes from ''mǣl'', meaning 'monument or cross', and ''dūn'' meaning 'hill', so translates as 'monument hill'. East Saxons settled the area in the 5th century and the area to the south is still known as the Dengie Peninsula after the Dæningas. It became a significant Anglo-Saxon England, Saxon port with a hythe or quayside and artisan quarters. Evidence of imported pottery from this period has been found in archaeological digs. From 958 there was a royal mint issuing coi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchising, franchised national lottery established in 1994 in the United Kingdom. It is regulated by the Gambling Commission, and is operated by Allwyn Entertainment, who took over from Camelot Group (who had been running the National Lottery since its inception) on 1 February 2024. Prizes are paid as a lump sum (with the exception of the Set For Life which is paid over a set period) and are tax-free. Of all money spent on National Lottery games, around 53% goes to the prize fund and 25% to "good causes" as set out by Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament (though some of this is considered by some to be a form of "stealth tax" levied to support the National Lottery Community Fund, a fund constituted to support public spending). 12% goes to the UK government as lottery duty, 4% to retailers as commission, and a total of 5% to the operator, with 4% to cover operating costs and 1% as profit. Since 22 April 2021, players must be 18 years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donnington Historic Weapons Collection
The Donnington Historic Weapons Collection is a collection of weapons accumulated by MoD Donnington in Shropshire, England, over a long period of time. It is now housed at the Combined Military Services Museum in Maldon, Essex, England. The collection MoD Donnington was part of the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency (DSDA). Historically Donnington was the storage area for all weapons used by the British Army. Part of this function was the disposal of old, captured and obsolete weapons. The majority of these were converted to scrap metal. In the years Donnington has been functioning, many items returned for disposal were deemed worthy of retaining because of their rarity or historic significance. In all, a collection of over 700 items was amassed varying from civilian and sporting arms to captured foreign weapons. In 2010, a decision was made by the Ministry of Defence to gift the collection to a public museum. Under the guidance of Kevan Jones MP, then Under Secretary for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cockle Mark II Canoe
The Cockle Mark II was a type of canoe used by the Royal Navy during World War 2. Surviving example The Combined Military Services Museum in Maldon, Essex houses the only surviving original Cockle Mark II kayak used by the Royal Marine Raiders on Operation Frankton, commonly known as the Cockleshell Heroes. The canoe is believed to be ‘ Cachalot’ damaged during the launching of the canoes from the submarine, and returned to the Saro Works boat yard on the Isle of Wight for repair. However, production of the kayak had moved to Parkstone Joinery in Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ..., and so the canoe was never repaired. The kayak was restored by the museum, using original plans and sketches made by the designer Goatley, and the raid commander Halser. Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Frankton
Operation Frankton was a commando raid on ships in the German occupied French port of Bordeaux in southwest France during World War II. The raid was carried out by a small unit of Royal Marines known as the Royal Marines Boom Patrol Detachment (RMBPD), part of Combined Operations, inserted by the submarine captained by Lieutenant-Commander Dick Raikes who, earlier, had been awarded the DSO for operations while in command of the submarine . (The RMBPD would later form the Special Boat Service.) The plan was for six folding kayaks to be taken to the area of the Gironde estuary by submarine. Twelve men would then paddle by night to Bordeaux. On arrival they would attack the docked cargo ships with limpet mines and then escape overland to Spain. Men from no.1 section were selected for the raid; including the commanding officer, Herbert "Blondie" Hasler, and with the reserve marine Colley the team numbered thirteen in total. One kayak was damaged while being deployed from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. SOE personnel operated in all territories occupied or attacked by the Axis powers, except where demarcation lines were agreed upon with Britain's principal Allies of World War II, Allies, the United States and the Soviet Union. SOE made use of neutral territory on occasion, or made plans and preparations in case neutral countries were attacked by the Axis. The organisation directly employed or controlled more than 13,000 people, of whom 3,200 were women. Both men and women served as agents in Axis-occupied countries. The organisation was dissolved in 1946. A memorial to those who served in SOE was unveiled in 1996 on the wall of the west cloister of Westminster Abbey by the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Queen Mother, and in 2009 on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded to service personnel in the broader British Empire (later Commonwealth of Nations), with most successor independent nations now having established their own honours systems and no longer recommending British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch. The investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riggal Papers
Captain Peter Miles Riggal served with the Lincolnshire Regiment and was an expert in the use of explosives. He was recruited by Special Operations Executive, SOE and worked as an instructor. Later in the war he was attached to Force 136 in the Far East, and instructed agents who were to be dropped into Japan to destroy key targets during the planned invasion of Japan. Their skills were not put into use as the war with Japan was ended by the use of the atom bomb. His Instructors notes and training information should have been destroyed at the end of the war. However, Riggal kept the notes, and they were forgotten for many years. The papers give a comprehensive insight into what agents were taught in the desperate war years. Amongst the items are a series of school exercise books with his notes on training sessions including assessments of trainee agents. Also there is a large amount of information on codes, disguises, explosive tests, interrogation techniques and many other t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
