OTHER FEATURES INSIDE:BBC filming for Museum of the Year finalists

Volunteering on the Roger Freeman Collection

Volunteering with the War Memorials Archiveand the Bond of Sacrifice Collection project

Up she Rose again at Portsmouth

Mayoral recognition for Conservation Team

Volunteering journey leads to family historyrevelations

War Rooms tour puts Tom in the hot seat

VOLUNTEERNEWSLETTER

ISSUE 25 – SUMMER 2015

Northern tea partycelebrates volunteeringcontributions…

WELCOME TO ISSUE 25 OF THEIWM VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTERBy Jim HutchinsonHead of Volunteering & Engagement, IWM

During a period of major change management for IWMour volunteering programme has also been undergoingtransition and I am editing this newsletter in my firstmonth as IWM’s first ever Head of Volunteering &Engagement. I am looking forward to theopportunities that my new post should bring tomeet a still wider number of our current family ofsupporting IWM Volunteers. I will also be using mynew appointment to further raise awareness ofthe significant contribution that volunteersalready make, and could make, to the widerwork of IWM in the future.

With 2015 over half gone we can alreadylook back on a broad and varied range ofvolunteering experiences, events andservices delivered across our IWM Groupthrough staff and volunteeringpartnerships at all sites. During our lastcomplete IWM year from April 2014 toMarch 2015 an average of 1052volunteers collectively donated some103,110 hours in support of IWMbranches and projects. Some ofthese volunteering developmentshave been externally recognisedand a number of them arefeatured within this issue.

Enjoy the read.

Cover: Volunteers from IWMNorth and other Manchestermuseums and heritage sitesat an afternoon Tea Party tocelebrate Volunteering inGreater Manchester on16 June 2015. Full storyon Page 7.

VOLUNTEER PROGRAMME NEWS IWM LONDON NEWS

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BBC FILMING FORMUSEUM OF THEYEAR FINALISTS

By Jessica Pocock, Interaction Team Volunteer,IWM London

When Jim phones, as opposed to emailing, yoususpect this is something out of the ordinary, as itproved to be when I found myself in the darkenedFirst World War galleries in IWM London soon after8 the next morning, approaching a BBC team armedwith lights and a large camera. They were groupedaround the shrunken glove that I’d suggested might beinteresting. By now I was thinking “Why did I ever say I’ddo this?”

They were there to capture a snapshot of aspects of IWMLondon today as part of IWM’s recent submission for theMuseum of the Year Awards and our own InteractionVolunteers Team work was something that they were very keento profile. But the BBC team was delightful and it was fascinatingto see how they operate and manage to keep everyone calm.By 10 o’clock the museum doors had opened and I pointed outthat they should really come back one Sunday to film thevolunteers around the trolley, showing First World War hats andhelmets to the visitors. So it was wonderful that they did this, andfilmed the interaction between us and the public, who so appreciatebeing able to hold original artefacts. It also meant that Grant could bethere, and he, after all, set the whole thing up and trained us in thehistory of these objects.

It was a very rewarding experience, so if Jim phones you with some totallyunexpected request, it might be worth saying “Yes”!

Jess (centre) introduces the BBC crew and IWM visitors to a German Pickelhaube helmet fromthe First World War

STOP PRESS... IWM DUXFORD NEWSThe inaugural SHARE Volunteer Awards ceremony took place on Thursday 9June in Bury St Edmunds. Congratulations go to IWM Duxford volunteers ChesterMersman and Viv Alderton who won awards in the Front of House category.Accepting the award on their behalf was Niki Hughes, Volunteer Manager forIWM Duxford (featured right), and handing out the awards was Hedley Swain,South East Area Director for Arts Council England. Also nominated wasIWMD Volunteer Anne Hughes for the Behind the Scenes Awards and RobClayden, Conservation Assistant, for the Volunteer Manager Award.

The American Air Museum team launched a newwebsite (www.americanairmuseum.com) inOctober 2014. The site serves as an interactivearchive of the American Air War in Europe and itinvites users to share their memories and experiencesof Americans in Britain during the Second World War.

At the heart of the website is an impressive collectionof photographs from aviation historian RogerFreeman, now owned by IWM. Over the course of hislife, Freeman collected approximately 15,000 printsand slides of American aircraft and airmen in Britainduring the Second World War. Around 10,000 imagesfrom Freeman’s collection are currently available toview online, and more will be released in stages as thewebsite progresses. Freeman’s collection was largelygathered from veterans who sent him personalphotographs and stories of their experiences. Many ofhis images had not been made publicly available, andwhile he had published some of his collection in his

books, most of his photographs had remained unseenin boxes, folders and files.

The majority of the digitisation and cataloguing workon the Roger Freeman collection for the AAM websitehas been undertaken by a team of dedicatedvolunteers who have worked for over two years onthis fascinating collection. I joined the project as avolunteer in January 2013, to help make a brief recordof the images before they were scanned externally.On my first day I was sorting through photographs ofthe 91st Bomb Group, which included the famous“Memphis Belle”, Clark Gable demonstrating hisgunnery skills and a farmer’s wife walking her ducksacross Bassingbourn airfield! The team of volunteersalso worked hard to transcribe handwritten notes andpress captions on the back of the images. Suchcaptions are especially important as they providebackground information on the photograph oridentify the people, aircraft and places depicted. InApril last year I joined the AAM team professionally inorder to catalogue the Freeman collection on the IWMcollections database – Adlib. I have gained newinsight into how valuable the work of the AAMvolunteers is, as their efforts have facilitated mycataloguing and improved the website content. Sothank you Eric, Roy and Phil!

With the launch of the website, the work of the AAMvolunteers continues. They are working to improvethe website content, which has expanded to includemore fantastic collections – aerial photography fromEnglish Heritage, and deceased personnel files fromAmerican Casualty researcher Bill Beigel. They havebeen joined by an army of “virtual volunteers” whohave also added their photographs and research tothe website. If you have any information about orfamily memories of Americans in Britain during theSecond World War, you can share them on thewebsite and help build the archive.

Visit the American Air Museum website and see theRoger Freeman collection atwww.americanairmuseum.com.

VOLUNTEERING ON THEROGER FREEMANCOLLECTIONBy Emily Charles, Project Assistant and Volunteer,American Air Museum, IWM Duxford

IWM DUXFORD NEWS

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The American Air Museum website

A farmer’s wife walks her ducks past a B-17at Bassingbourn: one of the images

from the Roger FreemanCollection

I began volunteering with IWM London in January 2015as a Digital Support Volunteer. Working across IWM’sCentenary digital programmes I split my commitmentbetween the War Memorials Archive and the Bond of

Sacrifice Collection. I chose this rolebecause I wanted to contribute to

a project with a long-lasting impact

and

tangible results. I am currently completing a part-timeMasters in British First World War Studies.Volunteering with the IWM reinforces my passion formilitary and cultural history.

The War Memorials Archive is working to compile acomprehensive record of all war memorials in the UK,in order to promote their appreciation, use andpreservation. My role is to input information about thememorials into a searchable database displayed onthe IWM website. The database currently records over66,000 memorials. The work is incredibly rewardingand an amazing experience. I benefit fromcollaborative work and knowledge exchange withenthusiastic members of staff and fellow volunteers.

My other commitment is assisting with a Collectionsprogramme. The remit is to preserve and makeaccessible the series of portrait photographs, knownas the Bond of Sacrifice, that came into IWM’s careduring the First World War. The portraits areaccompanied by letters from their donors, which I amcurrently cataloguing. These will be accessible inIWM’s cataloguing management system andpublished online for public access. The letters arefascinating and it is a real pleasure to work with suchpersonal records.

My time volunteering with the IWM has provided mewith valuable experience and an incredibly rewardingsense of achievement. Our team is contributing tocollections with significant historical and culturalvalue. It is a real privilege to be part of the process,and exciting to participate in the progression of IWM’sdigital programmes.

VOLUNTEERING WITH THE WAR MEMORIALS ARCHIVEAND THE BOND OF SACRIFICE COLLECTION PROJECTBy Catherine Long, Digital Support Volunteer, War Memorials Archive

Since re-launching the War Memorials Archive inNovember 2014 with an updated database systemand public search facility our volunteers have addedover 1500 memorials to the database. Thanks to thededicated work of our volunteers we now record over66,000 memorials.

The next phase of development for the WMA is torelease a names database recording names on warmemorials. This database will be released publicly

later this year and we are calling for volunteers to helpus transcribe the lists of names. The work of ourvolunteers is vital in ensuring that these individuals areremembered.

We have volunteering opportunities currently availablefor in-branch and fieldworker roles. If you would like tocontribute to building a comprehensive record of warmemorials and the names they commemorate pleasecontact us at memorials@iwm.org.uk.

WAR ARCHIVE MEMORIALS PROGRESS REPORTBy Colin Sweett, Public Engagement Manager, Lives

IWM’S WAR MEMORIALS ARCHIVE NEWS

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Catherine helping with the digitisation of the Bond of SacrificeCollection at IWM London

IWM LONDON BRANCHES NEWS

On Wednesday 6 June 2015 I met up withthe IWM Volunteers who had travelled bycoach from London (myself by trainalong the south coast via Brighton) toarrive at a very sunny and very breezyPortsmouth Historic Dockyard.

The first part of our visit was tosee the further restoration of HenryVIII’s former flagship Mary Rose.This was my third visit and it iswonderful to see how muchhas been achieved since thevery first spraying of water onto the ship that had tobe done. I do have a particular interest as my friend’sson was one of the divers who helped to raise the ship.

So much has been cleaned and exhibited for us all toview. A lift is now installed and on each deck levelthere are glass display sections of what has beenfound on that level, from the stone hearth in the hullto a coil of rope on another and even shoes on higher

decks. The hoarding that is in place with glass insertsto view the ship will be coming down when theexhibition closes in October and from May 2016 wewill be able to walk by Mary Rose in her full glory.What an achievement for the dockyard personnel.

As we left Mary Rose behind and headed for theNational Museum of the Royal Navy we passed HMSVictory looking pristine in the sunshine: all yellowand black and another “thumbs up” for thedockyard.

There was so much for us to see in the NationalMuseum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) but one of thehighlights was being taken to the top two floors toview artefacts that the general public may never seeas there is not sufficient space to display all of them.We felt very privileged to have been given thischance: everything was catalogued and available forus to view from metal ship’s name plates touniforms, crockery and guns. On the ground floorwas a new display depicting the Gallipoli campaignincorporating a screen displaying footage from thisengagement. What I particularly appreciated was theattention shown by the NMRN’s staff to Simon oneof our visually impaired volunteers whom Richardand Jim were escorting during our visit. They gavehim some conservation friendly white gloves andthen placed some of the antique pistols and otherequipment in his hands so he too could better feelthe atmosphere of the place.

We all enjoyed our lunch and sitting and meetingother volunteers and catching up on the latest news.So well done Jim and your team for providing usagain with a ‘1st Class’ day out, and I was so gratefulit wasn’t to the Isle of Wight when I saw the state ofthe sea!

UP SHE ROSE AGAINAT PORTSMOUTH!By Joyce Glasscock, Centenary & OfficeSupport Volunteer, IWM London

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Quarterdeck treadplates from ships HMS Fearless and HMS Invincible with the HonoursBoard from Second World War destroyer HMS Cassandra in the storage area of the NationalMuseum of the Royal Navy within Portsmouth Dockyard

Simon O’Connor – our visually impairedInteraction Volunteer – getting

‘hands on’ with a model ofthe Mary Rose

On a pleasant late spring evening on 12 May, a smallgroup made its way from HMS Belfast to City Hall – thestrangely inebriated looking structure that is home tothe Mayor of London and under the menace of theship’s aft 6'' guns. Representatives of Belfast’sconservation team had been invited to meet theMayor, Boris Johnson, at a reception celebratingvolunteering across London. The reception was held onthe top floor, boasting a gallery offering quitespectacular views of the London skyline as well as aunique opportunity to view our ship from above. Thewarm and sunny weather made this a very enjoyableexperience, and the clear evening sky an excellentopportunity to enjoy the vista.

To the assembled throng, Boris spoke at some lengthin his inimitable style, interspersing his appreciation ofvolunteering efforts across the capital with his

HMS BELFAST NEWS

MAYORALRECOGNITION FORCONSERVATION TEAMBy Richard Hall, Warship Conservation Volunteer,HMS Belfast

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exuberant sense of humour; it was very entertaining.Speech over and the Belfast team – Andy Curran(Conservation Manager), Jim Hutchinson (VolunteerProgramme Manager) with Warship ConservationVolunteer Mike Pipe and myself (representing the WarshipConservation Team) were presented to Boris and receiveda certificate in appreciation of the work done byvolunteers to help preserve the ship, which is such aprominent feature in the heart of London and a majortourist attraction.

It is sad that such events have to limit the number ofinvitees, but let us not lose sight of the fact that therecognition is for the whole Warship Conservation Teamand is a tribute to the hard work and dedication ofeveryone involved.

During the autumn of last year work began on therestoration of the boat crane. The crane itself was in apoor condition and many coats of paint hid a vastamount of corrosion. The Conservation team startedwork on the jib, removing the paint and surfacecorrosion. Minor fittings were removed for treatment inthe workshop, and additional eyeplates which did notbelong on the structure were ground off. A few minorrepairs were carried out and the structure recoatedwith a full paint scheme. The gearboxes, clutches,brakes and motors were also restored externally andcorrosion stabilised.

A replica ladder was manufactured to gain accessto the operating platform which houses theoperator controls and electrical contactor boxes.Two of these boxes were removed to aworkshop. One of the units turned out to befull of water. Due to the poor weather anddismal forecasts, external work was haltedfor the winter.

The fittings removed were restored overthe winter and in June external workresumed. The last contactor box was

CRANE’S RESTORATION NEARS COMPLETIONBy Andy Curran, Conservation Manager, HMS Belfast

Richard and Mike (fifth and fourth from right respectively) at the CityHall certificate presentation ceremony

Warship Conservation Volunteer Andrew Preece helps to remove corrosion fromthe ship’s Boat Deck Crane

brought down and the operating platform is having thepaint removed so that the platform and support framingcan be surveyed and treated.

The conservation team are also actively engaged inrestoring a four inch gun mount and a close range blindfire director as well as digitising thousands of ship drawings.

new skills, increase their knowledge and getinvolved with the museum. Both continuedto volunteer at the museum each weekand love blossomed in 2009 after muchbanter and flirting.

Congratulations to Zena and Brian whowill be celebrating their first year ofmarried life this summer.

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There always seem to be volunteers at museums tohelp you enjoy the experience – sharing their passion,their knowledge, and their own history. I’ve alwaysenjoyed visiting museums and even managed to do23 during a ten day visit to Normandy and the D-Daybeaches.

Somewhere at the back of my mind was: how dopeople volunteer in museums? What’s it like? It must beinteresting, all that history, meeting all those people,and just being a part of it. I made a pledge to myself togo and find out how to volunteer at a museum. Itturned out to be a lot easier than I thought.

With more than a passing interest in the Second WorldWar and other conflicts it had to be IWM North.I checked the website if: Volunteering for Wellbeing :ten weeks, one day a week, even a qualification at theend of it. I was invited to a taster session to see themuseum, meet the people, ask questions, and have aquick one-to-one chat.

Before you know it you have a new set of friends of allages and backgrounds. Soon you’re learning how tomeet and greet visitors, handle objects, search familyhistory, and talk about the museum.

One thing we learned was how to signpost visitors whowere interested in family history. I needed to knowabout my grandad. He fought in the Second World Warbut sadly died before I was born. So many stories werepassed on to me, but it seemed like Chinese whispers.

IWM NORTH NEWS

On 5 July 2014 we were delighted when twoIWM North volunteers tied the knot.

Zena joined the museum as a volunteerthrough the In Touch trainingprogramme in 2006 and Brian joinedthe same programme a year later. Theprogramme aimed to attract peoplefrom the local community whowanted to make new friends, learn

Lance SergeantP. Mannion

VOLUNTEERING JOURNEY LEADS TOFAMILY HISTORY REVELATIONSBy Chris Mannion, Volunteer, IWM North

VOLUNTEERING CELEBRATION TEA PARTYTo mark Volunteers Week and Adult Learners Week if: Volunteering for wellbeing hosted anafternoon Tea Party to celebrate Volunteering in Greater Manchester in the Grand Hall of theWhitworth Art Gallery on Tuesday 16 June. The Charleston Charlies jazz band were on handto transport us back in time to the 1920s and we all enjoyed light refreshments, dancingand tours of the gallery and park as we said a big thank you to our wonderful volunteers.

Armed with new skills, knowledge and self confidenceI decided to find out.

It turned out that my grandad, Lance Sergeant P.Mannion, had a whole history awaiting discovery. He didfight in the Second World War with the 73rd Anti TankRegiment Royal Artillery. He landed at Gold Beach onD-Day, 6 June 1944 – his 38th birthday.

He was wounded; he fought in France, Belgium, Hollandand Germany. But so much more than that! It turnedout he was one of a five man patrol who capturedHeinrich Himmler.

IWM North now has a display about the 196 battery,73rd Anti Tank Regiment’s hand in capturing one of themost notorious men of Second World War whichincludes a picture of my grandfather.

I volunteer on Your History in the museum helping togive advice to others researching their family stories.Fathers, grandfathers, uncles, sisters, aunts andmothers – they all did something. They all have historywaiting to be told.

So, you see what happens when you volunteer: you endup with knowledge of your own family history and youhelp to make sure the museum experience is anexciting and entertaining visit for everyone.

73rd Anti Tank Regiment

A VOLUNTEER WEDDING

On 2 June 2015 members of the Orientation Volunteers Teamwere shown around the Churchill War Rooms by its Director, PhilReed. It was a privilege and a great opportunity to hear from, andquestion, the man himself about the development of the WarRooms and how they have changed or developed during andsince the war years. It was interesting to note that the mainrooms, such as the map room and cabinet room, had in facthardly changed at all. We spent quite a bit of time in boththose rooms being briefed on the highs and the lows ofthose days and particularly how those who worked therewere affected when things were not going particularlywell. It was sobering to think of the women who workedthere whose jobs it was to remove the pins from themaps when U boats successfully attacked the convoysand heartbreaking to think of the number of lives lost.

One of the highlights for me was being allowed to sitin the very chair that Churchill used during cabinetmeetings. The chair is wooden and bears marksindicating how tense those cabinet meetingsmust have been at the time – on one arm is agroove made by his fingernails as he dug into it,perhaps helping him to keep his temper – theother arm bears marks made by his ring as hebanged the chair while making a point. It isso evocative and so much part of the historyof the time. I have to say that I so enjoyedthe opportunity to sit in that chair. Eventhe absence of a large cigar, which had itbeen available I would have smoked withgusto, did not diminish the experience.

It was a great day.

Tom in Churchill’s chairin the War Cabinet

Room at CWR

CHURCHILL WAR ROOMS NEWS

WAR ROOMS TOUR PUTS TOM IN THE HOT SEATBy Tom Wilkie, Orientation Briefings Service Volunteer, Churchill War Rooms

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IWM Duxford: Nicola Hughes, VolunteerProgramme Manager on 01223 499 357.

IWM’s London branches: Volunteer ProgrammeManager on 0207 940 6345.

IWM North: Danielle Garcia, VolunteerProgramme Manager on 0161 836 4080.

VOLUNTEER‘SITUATIONSVACANT’ WITHIN IWM!At all of our IWM branches capacity for new volunteers can vary astraining programmes and operational/development projects start and finish.For the latest on current openings for volunteers please contact the VolunteerProgramme Managers recruiting for the branch or project that you wish to join. These are: