Collection: Combined Military Services Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The collection was started by Richard Wooldridge when he found a 1937 Pattern backpack in a roadside ditch in 1968. After collecting his father’s wartime items and, over time, the wider family’s pieces, it was decided to start a museum. Upon realizing the seriousness of his collecting more and more items appeared and he was able to set up a mini-museum in his bedroom, much to his mother’s dismay.

  Once he started working and had a regular income Dr Wooldridge was able to increase the collection size dramatically and when he purchased his first house the garage was converted into a museum.

  After contacting various tourist boards, societies and councils for assistance the collection was reviewed by the Government who declared in to be of national importance, and assisted in setting up a registered charity to provide a building to house the collection. The charity was officially set up in 1996 and gathered momentum, with donations from private and public funds and finally in 2001 a suitable building was found, a former bonded warehouse, which offered very good security and excellent potential as a quality museum.

  The museum was named the Combined Military Services Museum after the Combined Operations of World War Two, as this reflected the three services as did the collection.

  The following few years were extremely busy with donations from military sources, an armour collection that was purchased and saved from export. One 5th July 2004, after 36 years of planning the doors to the museum opened.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The Combined Military Services Museum is a state registered charity, which houses an independent collection of British military artefacts. The Wooldridge Collection began in 1968 and concentrates on the conflicts fought by the British Armed Forces from the start of the 16th Century to present day. The Museum displays only genuine period pieces and the collections include mainly combat uniforms and equipment rather than ceremonial dress. The Museum aims to illustrate changes and developments within the British Armed Forces through a history of uniforms and equipment. The Museum houses predominantly British military artefacts and contains key items from the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, British Army and the Secret Services.

  The Wooldridge Collection is currently the Museum’s main and largest collection of exhibits, whilst the Trust Collection forms the secondary collection. The Wooldridge Collection also includes an extensive assortment of medals in addition to an impressive range of munitions.

  The collection can be broken down into sections:

  Medieval and Civil War

  Pole arms, swords, daggers, muskets, armour, helmets and cannon

  First and Second World Wars

  Uniforms, guns, ordinance, equipment,

  First World War Posters

  A collection of 40 First World War recruiting posters in perfect condition has been cleaned, conserved and digitized and is available for research. We intend to make the digital images available to view online.

  Special Forces

  Uniforms and equipment from SAS and SBS including a complete collection from the Iranian Embassy Siege.

  SOE and Resistance

  Rare pieces including Odette Sansom’s ribbons, various radios and clandestine weapons and gadgets, Roger Landes’ SOE papers and the Riggal papers

  Cold War and Spy/Espionage

  An important collection of weapons and clandestine equipment from the cold war spy era including pieces belonging to Peter and Prue Mason (code named Zoe), Ian Fleming, Kim Philby and others. Key items are a lipstick-shaped miniature pistol, a Bulgarian assassination umbrella hiding a poison pellet injected by hypodermic needle, and a fountain pen concealing a pistol. This collection is regularly in demand for loans to international museums.

  Uniforms

  Including pieces belonging to Stephen ‘Ginger’ Burns, a tail gunner in ‘H for Harry’, on the famous ‘Dambusters’ raid, Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris’s RAF uniform and more than 60 fully dressed, high quality mannequins displaying unforms from the Napoleonic War to the Afghan war.

  Holocaust

  The museum is proud to be able to display a number of pieces relating to the Holocaust including a striped jacket from Bergen Belsen concentration camp. We contextualize this carefully and work with the Holocaust Memorial Trust to ensure appropriate display.

  MOD Donnington Firearms Collection

  A nationally important collection of some 1200 firearms and the Victoria Cross Bronze matrix, transferred by the Ministry of Defence.

  The Museum holds in excess of 1500 firearms, of which some 50% are active (live) and the Museum holds a Museum Firearms License (MFL), issued directly by the Home Office. Our firearms are stored under strict security, in accordance with current firearms regulations and we have a detailed security protocol agreed with the Essex Police Force. We work closely with the local police forces who will bring us firearms if they are of significant historical interest, rather than destroy them in amnesty operations.

  Cockleshell Heroes Operation Frankton Canoe

  An iconic piece of the British military story from the Second World War, a significant feature of the Wooldridge Collection is the inclusion of the only surviving Mk2.
  ‘Cockle’ canoe and equipment used on Operation Frankton, the so called ‘Cockleshell Heroes’ raid, in 1942.

  The collections are well documented onto MODES cataloguing system and held under secure conditions The collections are owned by the CMSM Trust, confirmed by documentation. Around 60% of the collection, numbering nearly 7000 pieces are on permanent display and approximately 3000 items are held in store. The Museum regularly makes loans available to other museums, most recently the ‘We Never Sleep’ exhibition at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Museé d’Armee in Paris, National Army Museum and the Imperial War Museum in London.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC