The most impactful place for Victoria Crosses is museums in the locality where the recipients were from.
Those museums can contextualize them to their community, and give time to the story behind them. Every time I've seen that done, it's been ace.
They don't exist for Ashcroft to play Pokémon.
Those museums can contextualize them to their community, and give time to the story behind them. Every time I've seen that done, it's been ace.
They don't exist for Ashcroft to play Pokémon.
Reposted from
The Spectator
The news that the Imperial War Museum is closing Lord Ashcroft’s Victoria Cross and George Cross gallery is sadly not a great surprise. It’s the latest act in the ‘wokeification’ of this once outstanding museum.
✍️ Gavin Mortimer
✍️ Gavin Mortimer
Comments
National museum: *refuses to save said Tory a few million quid he can easily afford*
Tory: Wokeism!
Bill’s pipes & the display in the local museum had far more impact than a centralised repository, however tastefully done.
https://astreetnearyou.org/#=undefined&lat=10&lon=0&zoom=2
The VC gallery was an excellent and moving part of the IWM, really well displayed. Most of those stories I would never had heard of if it wasn’t for that display room.
This lessens the IWM in my mind.
And yes. Local display brings with it a risk. But frankly if Ashcroft cares that much about the stories, he has the money to help fund those local displays.
A rotating smaller collection will still cause knowledge of to be omitted. How often to people get to visit the IWM? Especially those visiting from outside London?
Anyhow, what’s done is done. ☹️
I'd have less issue if it wasn't JUST a VC gallery. There are hundreds of Military Cross recipients who I suspect you'd have enjoyed hearing about too.
It's not about hiding any history. Just letting general museums be general, and specific ones be specific.
Local museum patronage is far easier, in access terms, and a thing worth encouraging.
(With the exception of one i know of in Canada, where it is kept on a base in a small regimental cabinet as its recipient requested)
Their website has just 4 stories of recipients of George and Victoria Crosses: A French woman, another white woman with a French mother, a black man, and an Indian.
That's what the **** reading the Spectator are upset about.
They act as a reminder of the cost of war, and the shared experience of nations.
Ashcroft's private little VC gallery has ALWAYS been a bit of collector dick-waving.
But it has always been abundantly clear that those VCs should have been on display in places where they could breathe, inspire and help local communities remember.
By any measure, the collection could do more good being dispersed. Any central benefit coukd be achieved by replicas.
But sure. Something something woke historians.
Easier than a big museum which would require a full family day out.
The thought and effort that's gone into their display on local regiments, and on contextualizing their general artifact collection is legit wonderful.
Probably why i get so annoyed at the hoarding in Ashcroft's gallery.
It doesn't achieve anything a smaller rotating set could do.