Royal Marines Museum
Encyclopedia
The Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
Museum is located in Eastney
Eastney
Eastney is a district located in the south east corner of Portsmouth, England on Portsea Island.Eastney started out as a small hamlet. In 1867 a barracks for the Royal Marines was built in the hamlet...
(Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
), England, and is open to the public every day of the week throughout the year apart from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. A registered charity, it is also a designated museum under the terms of the National Heritage Act 1983 and an executive non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
by virtue of receiving Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Defence.
Established in October 1958, the Museum represents a complete history of the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
from their beginnings in 1664 through to the present day. Highlights of the Museum include the Medal Room, with over 8000 medals on show (including all 10 Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
es awarded to the Corps) and, as of June 2008, The Making of the Royal Marines Commando exhibition, a major display highlighting the demands of the 32-week training course undertaken by all Royal Marines recruits.
In September 2008, the Museum successfully purchased a rare medal for £41,000 (thanks to a contribution of £28,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund
National Heritage Memorial Fund
The National Heritage Memorial Fund is a non-departmental public body set up under the National Heritage Act 1980 in memory of people who gave their lives for the United Kingdom....
); the Naval General Service Medal with Trafalgar clasp was awarded to Lt Lewis Buckle Reeve who, following serious injury at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, was laid next to the mortally-wounded Nelson on board HMS Victory. This medal is now on show alongside Lt Reeve's Muster List of Royal Marines on-board HMS Victory at Trafalgar.
On the 28th of October 2008 - The Museum's 50th birthday - the Royal Marines Museum won the Best Small Visitor Attraction of the Year award from Tourism South East, recognising its excellence, both in terms of exhibitions and the quality of the customer service provided.
March 2009 saw the launch of the Special Exhibitions Gallery - an area dedicated to a rolling programme of Special Exhibitions highlighting a broad range of subjects to a variety of audiences. The first exhibition was entitled Return to Helmand: The Royal Marines in Afghanistan and opened by Commandant General Royal Marines, Major General Garry Robison. . The second - running from April to October 2010 - is entitled Griff - Thinker, Painter, Forger, Spy? and celebrates the memorable life of Captain Guy Griffiths
Guy Griffiths
Captain Guy Griffiths was a Royal Marine Pilot from 1938 to 1953.-Biography:Guy Griffiths was born in 1915 at Pembroke Dock where his father was a senior Admiralty Civil Servant. Commissioned in the Royal Marines on 1 September 1934, ‘Griff’ was on HMS Resolution off the coast of Spain during the...
, a Royal Marine pilot.