‘Sea Your History: 20th Century Royal Navy’ opens window onto real-life experiences of the Navy’s people.
News release issued: 30th April 2008A new special exhibition which opens a window onto the real experiences of the Navy’s people opens at the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard from Saturday 26th April.
‘Sea Your History: 20th Century Royal Navy’ captures images and testimonies of the people of the Navy in combat and under stress, doing their day-to-day work, at rest and play, at home and abroad, at sea and on land - during a century of almost continuous conflict and rapid technological and social change.
The exhibition will include colourful, surprising and often touchingly intimate items of both official and personal material selected from the collections of the Royal Naval Museum, the Fleet Air Arm Museum, the Royal Marines Museum, and the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.
These will include uniforms and kit, medals and certificates, programmes and menus, drawings and cartoons, letters and photographs, all typical of the mementoes and private souvenirs that service people and their families accumulate. Oral history will let visitors hear the voices of the Navy’s people themselves.
The Royal Naval Museum’s Director Dr Colin White explained:
“The 20th Century was one of incredible change punctuated by probably the most serious conflicts ever seen on the world stage. Developments in communication and technology mean that, often for the first time, the everyday experiences of those involved were recorded, first hand. This means we can tell the fascinating story of these remarkable times using the words of those who took part. This is an exhibition that puts people first.“
The exhibition is part of a larger project to make the 20th century collections of the Royal Naval Museum, the Fleet Air Arm Museum, the Royal Marines Museum, and the Royal Navy Submarine Museum available to the public via a new website, www.seayourhistory.org.uk.
Visitors to the exhibition will also have the opportunity to explore www.seayourhistory.org.uk., which is online now, on dedicated computer workstations.
Dr White continued: ‘The exhibition and website are just two steps in an exciting journey. Over the next three years, we will be developing plans for a complete new wing at the Royal Naval Museum, dedicated to the story of the 20th Century Royal Navy and the men and women who served it.”
Supported by funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Sea Your History is a joint effort by the four Naval Museums, Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust and the Mary Rose Trust.
