Silks & Shells

On display in the Museum, until Saturday 16th December 2017, is an amazing mini-exhibition on Love and Art From the Front during World War One.

Silks and Shells shows a collection of incredible trench art, made out of shell cases and ammunition and silk, embroidered postcards, sent home by soldiers of many nations during 1914-18.

The trench art was loaned by Martin Tilbury, a local WW1 historian from his private collection.

Among the objects is a highly-decorated vase bearing the Royal Artillery badge…a letter-opener created from a bullet with a blade soldered on and engraved with the names “Alf” and “Carrie”…a lighter made by a New Zealander from a bullet…and even a German ring.

The silk postcards were loaned by Mary Larner who lives in Havering and whose grandfather fought in WW1. He was Archibald Thomas Bradford of the Royal Regiment of Artillery whose spurs are on display in Object of the Month in the Museum’s Gallery One.

The postcards include Christmas Cards and those with sentimental messages to wives and sweethearts and were common in France during 1914-15.