nobbyclark

[Nobby Clark]

Hi everybody! I'm an ex pongo(for my sins!) And for Xmas got an iPad instead of the usual crayons and colouring book because I'd learned to spell with four X's instead of three, so don't hold it against me.I've been collecting for about 11 years now

[Bill A]

Hello Nobby Clark, welcome to the Forum. Your account is active and open for posts.

[CAM]

Welcome Nobby,

the Forum is a great source of knowledge and information,

Chris

[Artynut]

Well OK Nobby, First, A Warn Welcome to the forum! Second, WHAT have you been collecting for these past 11 years? Third, no info in your statistics or “about me” on your members list. For example, in my “about me” was a note which bought bout a very good on line conversation with a fellow Gunner in Australia. All the best to you. D.J.

[Nobby Clark]

I was approached about 12 years ago by our local museum system,they'd suddenly realised that although they had some material covering WW1 and WW2(not much by the way), they had nothing on the many conflicts Britain had been involved in since 1945. Korea, Malaya,Greece,Cyprus,Aden Ulster etc. So I started to collect the anecdotes,memories and experiences of men and women who'd served from that period on. We got stories and first hand accounts from the Falklands war, Suez, as well as memories of postings basic training,National Service,discharge and other events during the Cold War. As this material got archived we realised it was going into vaults probably never to be seen again, so I got a committee formed from unit associations,members of the Armed Forces and other interested groups,then organised a regular Armed Forces event much like a 'pop up' museum for schools across the region and the wider public. These events became very popular, with up to 2500 pupils visiting and 2-3000 members of the public. We also invited collectors,historians,museums,heritage groups, the Armed Forces,youth groups and charities to join us. Which they did, schools then asked us if we could cover WW1 and WW2 as well to help the local curriculum, so I started to source as much kit as I could from these eras. We have a fairly impressive digital archive covering military social history from 1914 to 2014, with quite a bit of the webbing,badges,medals,uniforms and helmets to go with the images. I've stopped organising events now, but we now loan out 3 museums to heritage groups,schools,other museums and community events for free. WW1, WW2 and the post 1945 period.

[Artynut]

Nobby, You’re doing great works. I applaud the fact that you are covering an era that is still within the reach of a lot of the forum membership. As for making your group’s collection available for viewing by the up and coming generation is a bonus. Looking forward to any successes you may have with some of the younger ones getting the bug and start to research further into what you’re exposing them to. Best regards, David J.

[Nobby Clark]

You'd be surprised by the interest we get from the 7 to 16 age range, one youngster, he must have been 8 or 9, wanted to discuss the Germans attempt at replicating their version of the Sten towards the end of WW2. Others are closet militaria buffs, the WW2 computer games on line nowadays are very impressive, with stats from all sides reference the capabilities and weaknesses be it AFVs,planes,ships or grunts on the ground. We try to cover everything, certainly not the sanitised BS the establishment would have kids learn. We even do the Hitler Youth, how manipulation from an early age can produce unquestioning allegiance to a political cult that preaches bigotry. There's a lot the Nazis did that is copied by the media, financial industry and politicians even now. Goebbels and Adolf would certainly recognise their handiwork. We show pupils and staff the similarities and how propaganda is used to manipulate youngsters and the gullible, in a way we're preparing youngsters for the minefields that litter grown up life. The feed back we get from staff and pupils is very positive, they all enjoy it and it makes history and militaria interesting and enjoyable, teachers said none of their kids got bored or drifted away into a daydream. I think it's something the younger generation are missing, I was always getting told as a kid about past conflict and where it went wrong.

[Nobby Clark]

You'd be surprised by the interest we get from the 7 to 16 age range, one youngster, he must have been 8 or 9, wanted to discuss the Germans attempt at replicating their version of the Sten towards the end of WW2. Others are closet militaria buffs, the WW2 computer games on line nowadays are very impressive, with stats from all sides reference the capabilities and weaknesses be it AFVs,planes,ships or grunts on the ground. We try to cover everything, certainly not the sanitised BS the establishment would have kids learn. We even do the Hitler Youth, how manipulation from an early age can produce unquestioning allegiance to a political cult that preaches bigotry. There's a lot the Nazis did that is copied by the media, financial industry and politicians even now. Goebbels and Adolf would certainly recognise their handiwork. We show pupils and staff the similarities and how propaganda is used to manipulate youngsters and the gullible, in a way we're preparing youngsters for the minefields that litter grown up life. The feed back we get from staff and pupils is very positive, they all enjoy it and it makes history and militaria interesting and enjoyable, teachers said none of their kids got bored or drifted away into a daydream. I think it's something the younger generation are missing, I was always getting told as a kid about past conflict and where it went wrong.

[Nobby Clark]

What do you collect or have an interest in? I have way over 250 WW1,inter war,WW2, National Service badges,as well as badges from the 1960s,70s and 1994 to 2006(staybrights). I also have uniforms covering WW1(repro), WW2, National Service era(Korea etc), as well as uniforms from the 60s,70s,80s and post Cold War. I think the last uniform came from Iraq or Afghanistan. For a period I was under the radar buying WW2 uniforms for peanuts, as well as '40 patt BDs, and OD and DPM from the 60s and 70s. I also have original training booklets,information pamphlets from WW1,WW2, and cold War era as well as posters(training and recruitment). Along with the uniforms I also have the helmets,webbing and headwear to go with it. I've got a digital archive of up to 20,000 images from 1914 to 2014, some with badges clearly shown, plus a few maps from the same periods.

[Artynut]

Interesting read Nobby! Keep up the good work. D.J.