The Guards Museum

Last updated

The Guards Museum

Guards museum armoured car 1.jpg

A Ferret armoured car on display outside the Guards Museum (January 2006)
Westminster London UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Westminster
Established 1988
Location Wellington Barracks
Coordinates 51°29′59″N0°8′16″W / 51.49972°N 0.13778°W / 51.49972; -0.13778 Coordinates: 51°29′59″N0°8′16″W / 51.49972°N 0.13778°W / 51.49972; -0.13778
Type Military
Website www.theguardsmuseum.com

The Guards Museum is a military museum in Central London, England. It is in Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk near Buckingham Palace, which is the home of the five regiments of Foot Guards (the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, and Welsh Guards).

Central London innermost part of London, England

Central London is the innermost part of London, in the United Kingdom, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally, nationally and internationally significant organisations and facilities.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Wellington Barracks barracks of the British Army in Westminster, London

The Foot Guards battalions on public duties in London are located in barracks conveniently close to Buckingham Palace for them to be able to reach the palace very quickly in an emergency. In central London, three companies are based at Wellington Barracks, Westminster, about three hundred yards from Buckingham Palace between Birdcage Walk and Petty France. Wellington Barracks is also home to all of the Foot Guards bands and all of the regimental headquarters.

Contents

History

The museum opened in 1988. [1] It tells the story of the regiments it represents, from the 17th century to the present day. The displays include many examples of different Guards uniforms, chronicling the evolving dress over time of the five regiments. There are also paintings, weapons, models, sculptures, and artefacts such as Mess Silver – all of which are aimed at explaining to the visitor the history of the regiments and what being a soldier in the Guards is all about. [2]

Related Research Articles

Coldstream Guards part of the Guards Division, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army

The Coldstream Guards is a part of the Guards Division, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army.

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and the senior Scottish regiment. The regiment, through the Royal Scots Greys, is the oldest surviving Cavalry Regiment of the Line in the British Army. The regiment is currently based at Leuchars Station, as part of the Scottish 51st Infantry Brigade.

Welsh Guards regiment of the British Army

The Welsh Guards, part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 by Royal Warrant of George V.

The Household Cavalry (HCav) is made up of the two most senior regiments of the British Army, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. These regiments are divided between the Armoured Regiment stationed at Combermere Barracks in Windsor and the ceremonial mounted unit, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, garrisoned at Hyde Park Barracks in London. The Household Cavalry is part of the Household Division and is the Queen's official bodyguard.

Lancashire Infantry Museum

The Lancashire Infantry Museum, formerly known as the Queen's Lancashire Regiment Museum, is located at Fulwood Barracks in Preston, Lancashire, England. The museum claims to be "largest Regimental archive and the premier centre for military historical research in the North of England."

Governor Generals Foot Guards Royal Household regiment in the Canadian Army Primary Reserve

The Governor General's Foot Guards (GGFG) is one of three Royal Household regiments in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Army and the most senior militia infantry regiment in Canada. Civitas et Princeps Cura Nostra is the regiment's motto.

Queens Guard contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official royal residences in the United Kingdom

The Queen's Guard and Queen's Life Guard are the names given to contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official royal residences in the United Kingdom. The British Army has regiments of both Horse Guards and Foot Guards predating the English Restoration (1660), and since the reign of King Charles II these regiments have been responsible for guarding the Sovereign's palaces. Despite tourist perceptions, the Guards are not purely ceremonial and are fully operational soldiers.

French Imperial Eagle

The French Imperial Eagle refers to the figure of an eagle on a staff carried into battle as a standard by the Grande Armée of Napoléon I during the Napoleonic Wars.

Royal Dragoon Guards cavalry regiment of the British Army

The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. The regiment currently serves as the Armoured Cavalry Reconnaissance unit of the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade and is therefore equipped with the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) Scimitar and is based in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire. Today the RDG is an operationally experienced regiment having recently served in Iraq, and Afghanistan.

3rd Carabiniers

The 3rd Carabiniers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1922 as part of a reduction in the army's cavalry by the amalgamation of the 3rd Dragoon Guards and the Carabiniers, to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards. It was renamed the 3rd Carabiniers in 1928 and amalgamated with the Royal Scots Greys, forming the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in 1971.

Imperial Guard (Japan)

The Japanese Imperial Guard is the name of two separate organizations dedicated to the protection of the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial House of Japan, palaces and other imperial properties. The first was a quasi-independent branch of the Imperial Japanese Army which was dissolved at the end of World War II. The second is the Imperial Guard Headquarters, a civilian Imperial Guard formed as part of the National Police Agency of Japan.

Pennsylvania Army National Guard

The Pennsylvania Army National Guard, abbreviated PAARNG, is part of the United States Army National Guard and is based in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Together with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, it is directed by the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The PAARNG maintains 124 armories and is present in 87 communities across the Commonwealth.

The 100th Guards Rifle Division was an elite Red Army airborne infantry division during World War II. The division fought in the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive and the Vienna Offensive. Postwar, it was designated as an airborne division and disbanded in 1955.

2nd Dragoon Guards (Queens Bays) cavalry regiment in the British Army

The 2nd Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was first raised in 1685 by the Earl of Peterborough as the Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse by merging four existing troops of horse.

3rd Dragoon Guards

The 3rd Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1751 and the 3rd Dragoon Guards in 1765. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated into the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards in 1922.

In countries whose armies are organised on a regimental basis, such as the army of the United Kingdom, a regimental museum is a military museum dedicated to the history of a specific army regiment.

Firing Line: Cardiff Castle Museum of the Welsh Soldier

Firing Line: Cardiff Castle Museum of the Welsh Soldier is a museum which exhibits the collections of the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards and the Royal Welsh. It occupies the lower floor of the interpretation centre at Cardiff Castle.

<i>The Queens Guards</i> (film) 1961 film by Michael Powell

The Queen's Guards is a 1961 military drama film directed by Michael Powell from a script by Simon Harcourt-Smith and Roger Milner. It stars Daniel Massey, Raymond Massey, Robert Stephens, and Ursula Jeans.

The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being held by the Life Guards. Although the Coldstream Guards were formed before the Grenadier Guards, the regiment is ranked after the Grenadiers in seniority as, having been a regiment of the New Model Army, the Coldstream Guards served the Crown for four fewer years than the Grenadiers.

The 251st Coast Artillery was a coast artillery regiment in the California National Guard, constituted in 1924 as a harbor defense regiment and redesignated in 1930 as an antiaircraft regiment. It served in World War II in that capacity.

References

  1. "Guards Museum Overview". Household Division. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  2. "Aims and ideals". The Guards Museum. Retrieved 2 June 2018.