John Grehan has submitted this report of the Royal Artillery Museums at Woolwich. The Museum of Artillery in the Rotunda: This collection contains only a few pieces from the Napoleonic period, even though the man who arranged the exhibits at their present site was Colonel William Congreve of the Congreve Rocket fame. There is, inevitably, a display of his rockets in the Rotunda and a facsimile copy of his excellent booklet Details of the Rocket System can be purchased from the souvenir shop.

The two main Napoleonic attractions are a 5" brass howitzer and a 6-pounder cannon with three crew members authentically begrimed in Belgian mud circa 1815. There is also a collection of side-arms including a flintlock pistol by Ezekial Baker the Baker Rifle man) which was carried by Captain R. Bogue of the Rocket Troop who was killed at the Battle of Leipzig. Amongst the sidearms are some items not related to the artillery.

These include an 1803 British Infantry Officer's sword, a French cavalry pistol dated 1799, an Austrian cavalry pistol of 1793, and Napoleon's field oven. A collection of models of Saxon artillery pieces dated 1812, including caissons and limbers, is also to be found. The souvenir shop is small but it has some unusual items for sale, amongst which are some Bengal Horse Artillery Christmas cards!

The Royal Artillery Regimental Museum: Situated in a few small rooms in the old Royal Military Academy the museum is severely cramped and desperately in need of rehousing. One room is devoted to the Napoleonic period with a separate section on the Peninsula War. There is also another room dedicated to the Royal Horse Artillery. The walls throughout the two rooms are hung with paintings from the Napoleonic period, most of which have been reproduced many times in books on the Peninsula War and Waterloo. There are also some scenes from some of the colonial conflicts such as the landing at Martinique in 1809, and the storming of Fort Niagara in 1813. Norman Ramsay's famous charge at Fuentes d'Onoro is represented by a splendid diorama, while another group of models depict a RHA gun crew with a 9-pounder gun.

Actual surviving items of uniform are, regrettably, limited to a officer's jacket of 1816 and a RHA coatee listed as 'early 19th century', but the latter has long tails and I am unable to date it. Of unusual items, there is a large Imperial Eagle dismounted from the mast-head over the main gate of the Arsenal of Toulouse in 1814 by an RA detachment under Alexander Dickson, and a cut-away model of a Bomb Vessel. Until 1804 the mortars on Bomb Ships were manned by the Royal Artillery (one officer and nine men), after which time they were served by Naval gunners.

Admission to both museums is free. The Rotunda is open from 12.00 to 16.00 in winter, and 17.00 in summer, opening at 13.00 at weekends. The Regimental Museum is open from 12.30 to 16.30, but as the museum is housed in Ministry of Defence property it is not always open to the public at the advertised times. It is recommended that visitors phone in advance to check that the museum is open on that day (081854 2242).

Photography is permitted providing that permission is obtained in advance, and no photographs can be taken that are to appear in any book or periodical without an agreed reproduction fee, negotiated through

Brigadier K.A. Timbers,
The Royal Artillery Historical Trust,
The Royal Military Academy,
Woolwich, London, SE 18 4DN.
Tel.081 7815623'

Both museums are easily reached by train from London Bridge to Woolwich Arsenal (on the Charing Cross to DartfordGillingham line) from where there are frequent buses to Repository Road and Shooters Hill Road, near where the two museums are situated. Both are within a short walking distance of each other.

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