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Museum Donations?

FormerHorseGuard

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Has anyone here ever donated medals, flight log books, etc to a local museum?

My grandfather was Air Force in the Second World War ( flying Officer RCAF ) , then Navy Reserve after the war as he went to college, then rejoined the Army as an Officer in the RCOC, was lied to when he joined there was talk about the army needing pilots and navigators because they were getting their own aircraft. He would of gone back to the Air Force, but he saw this as a faster way to promotions. But did not happen. Retired as a Captain in 1969.

He would of been 102 yesterday had he lived ( died in Feb 1988)

I am the last of the line so to speak. Outside of me there will be little to no interest in his medals, or his Second World War flight logs, ( he was shot down over the Burma Hump and made it back to the RAF ). I do not think my children will have any serious interest because they never met the man, or even know about him.

My Grandfather came from a very small town in Manitoba and they have a museum, I called them and they have interest in the medals and such.

Donating or long term loan of his medals to the local museum sound like a good solution ? They are not anything exciting. The 3 victory medals, that everyone got, then there is the Burma Star, North Africa with 2nd clasp, and the Italy ( if I recall correctly, there are 3 Stars) plus various UN Medals, Congo, Cyprus, Egypt.

I would really dislike the idea the medals are tossed or sold once I am gone if there is no interest.
Flight log book shows every mission he flew, including training flights, and his last flight looking for a missing lancaster bomber off the East Coast.
Atlas with every flight and course marked.

Any thoughts on this? I kind of figure some of you have done this or have plans to do this. Any advice?
 
The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa has a submission process as described on their website. You describe what you have and they will then make a determination if they want it.
 
I donated a full uniform of mine with all the ribbons and accoutrements to my hometown museum. I included a description of all the medals and when I was presented with them. I also gave them a copy of my MPRR.

The actual medals will be given to my kids and it'll be up to them what they want to do with them.
 
They are not anything exciting. The 3 victory medals, that everyone got, then there is the Burma Star, North Africa with 2nd clasp, and the Italy ( if I recall correctly, there are 3 Stars) plus various UN Medals, Congo, Cyprus, Egypt.
I've got no idea on a donation process but I'd hardly say "They are not anything exciting". Your grandfather fought and survived the most devastating war the World has ever seen and despite the hardship of that made the choice to continue to serve his country afterward.

Those medals symbolize that sacrifice and I think it would be great if the younger generations could see those medals and reflect on those sacrifices. Good luck on finding an appropriate home for them!

:salute:
 
I do not think my children will have any serious interest because they never met the man, or even know about him.
Just curious, but have you asked them? Just thinking of myself, if I was offered the medals of a departed ancestor I never knew, I would be over the moon.

If it’s none of my business, just ignore this.
 
Just curious, but have you asked them? Just thinking of myself, if I was offered the medals of a departed ancestor I never knew, I would be over the moon.

If it’s none of my business, just ignore this.
They are 10,10 and 12
They want everything at this age. Maybe one of them will be interested in the future but I want to make sure they have a back up home more than anything

I wanted a lot of things as a kid but as an adult I realize I do not have interest or space
 
I've got no idea on a donation process but I'd hardly say "They are not anything exciting". Your grandfather fought and survived the most devastating war the World has ever seen and despite the hardship of that made the choice to continue to serve his country afterward.

Those medals symbolize that sacrifice and I think it would be great if the younger generations could see those medals and reflect on those sacrifices. Good luck on finding an appropriate home for them!

:salute:
The medals are not the medals collectors get excited about, no DSO, DFC or VC they are common medals other the North Africa Star with 2nd Clasp

From what I read not many clasps were given
Just value to his family and maybe his community
 
The C&E Museum here in Kingston has a very tasteful exhibit that allows members of the Branch and RCCS folks to have their medals displayed and secured on trust. It's actually quite fascinating to go through and see some of the racks and stories behind them. It's a nice way to save these medals from the collector auctions and flea markets.
 
Has anyone here ever donated medals, flight log books, etc to a local museum?

Not in Canada, but we did in France.

My family donated some personal effects belonging to my uncle to the town in France where he was / is interred by the local civilian population. Just before the Liberation.
Each of the seven families did the same. Thankfully, after the Liberation of France, the RCAF M.R.E.S. decided to leave them be and never exhumed them to a big military cemetery out of town. All seven families agreed to that.

They are the only non-French war graves in town, so there has always been local interest in "their" crew. Their Lancaster was fully loaded with bombs when a Shrage Muzik equipped night-fighter caught up with them, so it is pretty well remembered, locally.







 
The medals are not the medals collectors get excited about, no DSO, DFC or VC they are common medals other the North Africa Star with 2nd Clasp

From what I read not many clasps were given
Just value to his family and maybe his community

Do you mean that he wore "two" clasps on his Africa Star or are you inferring that the clasp indicates a second award?


There were three clasps to the Africa Star. Each of the clasps would be earned for service with specific organizations during a specific period. The clasps were "8th Army", "1st Army" and "North Africa 1942-43". The medal could be awarded without a clasp and some individuals could meet the qualification for more than one clasp, however only one clasp could be worn on any campaign star. Supposedly only two individuals were awarded the medal (and wore it?) with both the 8th and 1st Army clasps; Gen Eisenhower and FM Alexander. RAF/RCAF personal (if they qualified for a clasp) would likely have received the "North Africa 1942-43".
 
No
Do you mean that he wore "two" clasps on his Africa Star or are you inferring that the clasp indicates a second award?


There were three clasps to the Africa Star. Each of the clasps would be earned for service with specific organizations during a specific period. The clasps were "8th Army", "1st Army" and "North Africa 1942-43". The medal could be awarded without a clasp and some individuals could meet the qualification for more than one clasp, however only one clasp could be worn on any campaign star. Supposedly only two individuals were awarded the medal (and wore it?) with both the 8th and 1st Army clasps; Gen Eisenhower and FM Alexander. RAF/RCAF personal (if they qualified for a clasp) would likely have received the "North Africa 1942-43".
Now you have me curious when I get home tonight I will have to double check and see what the clasp is, I thought he was awarded it twice.

From what I recall, he was in North Africa, then India and Burma, then back to North Africa. He was RCAF then attached to a RAF SQD 194 the Friendly Firm, then was shot down over the Hump, with time in the modern day Iran, Iraq area, then North Africa , then I do not know where he went. He ended up in Greenwood, and in BC as part of the Canadian invasion force for Japan. Final days at Greenwood. My grandfather did not talk about his war time service ( i was a kid ) and I only found his log book etc after he died. Just do not want his awards to be forgotten
 
. . . He was RCAF then attached to a RAF SQD 194 the Friendly Firm . . .

A few things that may be of interest.






 
Museums preserve and interpret history. The best artifacts in a museum's collection (which, in most cases, is way beyond what you see on display) have a known story attached to them. How significant a given artifact is depends on the mandate of the museum. A widely-distributed medal to the Canadian War Museum - probably not so much on its own, they probably a drawer full of them. The same medal accompanied by the logs, maybe moreso. For a small hometown museum, with a mandate preserve and celebrate its residents, I would think they would all be of interest.

You also cannot ignore the research value that the logs may have. For authors and historians researching squadrons, campaigns, etc., they could prove invaluable.

What museums are not is a repository for 'old stuff'. They don't need everybody's 1950 uniform that the family found after the owner passed but can't bring themselves to toss. Unless there is a compelling backstory from the owner, or they/their career was of some significance (nationally, locally, etc.), they don't need, and probably don't have the space to store another one. Many curators are sensitive to this family dilemma and will often accept it anyway then quietly, and properly, dispose of it.

In addition to your local museum, here is a link to the Organization of Military Museum's Canada. Note that not all are public institutions:

 
Museums preserve and interpret history. The best artifacts in a museum's collection (which, in most cases, is way beyond what you see on display) have a known story attached to them. How significant a given artifact is depends on the mandate of the museum. A widely-distributed medal to the Canadian War Museum - probably not so much on its own, they probably a drawer full of them. The same medal accompanied by the logs, maybe moreso. For a small hometown museum, with a mandate preserve and celebrate its residents, I would think they would all be of interest.

You also cannot ignore the research value that the logs may have. For authors and historians researching squadrons, campaigns, etc., they could prove invaluable.

What museums are not is a repository for 'old stuff'. They don't need everybody's 1950 uniform that the family found after the owner passed but can't bring themselves to toss. Unless there is a compelling backstory from the owner, or they/their career was of some significance (nationally, locally, etc.), they don't need, and probably don't have the space to store another one. Many curators are sensitive to this family dilemma and will often accept it anyway then quietly, and properly, dispose of it.

In addition to your local museum, here is a link to the Organization of Military Museum's Canada. Note that not all are public institutions:

A museum displaying artifacts is a visual history. The real history is in the archives of a regiment, or a town, city, province or nation.
 
You also cannot ignore the research value that the logs may have. For authors and historians researching squadrons, campaigns, etc., they could prove invaluable.

It was pretty interesting researching RCAF Bomber Command aircrew, their aircraft and targets. The bombing results were studied after the war, and are in the Bomber Command War Diary.

Start with the airman's log book. The RCAF sent them to the NOK. Although not always.

Their personnel files were in Ottawa. Dad and I went to see those. Including the Missing Research Enquiry Service ( MRES ) report.

Their operational records were in the U.K. We hired a researcher for that.

The units of RCAF Bomber Command were in a uniquely favorable position to produce a reliable documentary record of their operations. A far-sighted Air Ministry had ordered that standard forms 540 and 541 were to be completed for every opeational flight by every single aircraft. The aircraft's serial number, names of it crew, its bomb load, and take off time were all recorded. If the aircraft returned, its landing time and resume of the crews experiences during the flight were added. Squadrons made composite reports, Groups consildated them, and Bomber Command HQ produced an overall report of every raid. Because all the links in the chain were home-based, none of the records were lost to enemy action.

Meeting the people in France was amazing. For the French it was all or nothing during the Occupation.

There were 41 Lancasters shot down on that raid.
The survivors were alone, often in a state of shock, and sometimes wounded.
Above all, they needed help.

In the book Rendez-vous 127, The Diary of Anne Brusselmanns, ACM Sir Basil Embry put it this way,
It is perhaps difficult for anyone who has not lived under the oppression of German occupation and witnessed first-hand the frightful evil of Gestapo police methods to appreciate fully what it meant to work in direct opposition to them.
The married man or woman caught harbouring an Allied airman brought reprisals on the whole family - even small children were put to death. This was the price for patriotism, and as the Gestapo held most of the cards, the odds were strongly in their favour.
Their peril was far greater than that of the airman whom they helped, because if the evader was caught, he would merely become a prisoner of war, but if they were found helping or sheltering him they were tortured and shot.
 
I do not think my grandfathers medals and logbooks are of great interest to anyone or any group for historical or history making decisions.
He grew up in Oak Lake Manitoba. It was and is a very small town. He joined the RCAF to be a pilot, and he was most proud of being a navigator after he got his pilots wings. His medals tell a story of a kid who left the area not to fight the enemy or anything but because they offered him a buck a day plus food etc and away off the farm and out of Manitoba. He flew transport aircraft, not the glamorous fighters or bombers. He has bomber time but mostly transport aircraft. But there is always some one looking for local history or about the guy who made good. I figured the local museum would be a good home if they wanted the medals to display of a local boy. Making Captain in the army in the 50s and 60s not exactly a great career ending rank. But not everyone is going to be a major or a general. He did his job, had one hell of an adventure, never spoke about his war time, never had a bad thing to say about the army, other than unification. He regretted getting out when he did because he was being tasked for the Vietnam as part of a UN Team. But local history and local stories sometimes are more important than the big picture.


I am just curious if this is a good place to end his story and have him remembered. My kids or their kids could sell the medals and get a couple hundred bucks maybe and some collector have them? Never know if the interest will end with me or if one of the great grand children would be interested or not.
 
He would of been 102 yesterday had he lived ( died in Feb 1988) . . . I do not think my children will have any serious interest because they never met the man, or even know about him.
. . .
The 3 victory medals, that everyone got, then there is the Burma Star, North Africa with 2nd clasp, and the Italy ( if I recall correctly, there are 3 Stars) plus various UN Medals, Congo, Cyprus, Egypt.

As you contemplate how to perpetuate his memory, perhaps one way to spark some interest by your children would be to involve them in acquiring the medal(s) that your grandfather may have qualified for since his passing (if such a request has not already been done). Yes, he would have been entitled to at least one, the Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal and possibly two if he had served in Germany with NATO during his army service, Special Service Medal with NATO bar. Both awards were instituted since his death and can be requested for deceased former members.
 
I am thinking a shadow box containing the items would be in order. Something that can be passed down (maybe with a note tucked inside) and less likely to be just tossed in a drawer and forgotten.
 
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