The museum team are seeking testimony and potentially objects as part of an envisaged display around the nature and importance of care and ‘comforting things’ in the context of military lives, especially deployment. The display’s lead, Dr Robert MacKinnon, explains: "We have a deeply affecting and timeless historical collection of items associated with how, why and with what soldiers have felt and done comfort, but we are keen to capture more recent narratives, particularly important because of where we hope this envisaged display will go. Besides being a display on care and comfort, we hope it will do care and comforting work for ex-soldiers and their loving ones.
" Examples for Robert that may be enrolled into practices and feelings of comfort, include e-mails, gifts, certain foods, rations and snacks, clothing, hobby/activity practices, such as sport and games, ‘bluey’s’, phone calls, WhatsApp messages, therapeutic practices after injury. Robert has been delving into the darkened depths of the museum’s turret store room and has come across some pertinent items related to care and comfort. One of these is an exquisite embroidered red rose by Fred Baker of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, completed after he had lost part of his arm in the First World War (1914-18).
"Fred undertook this piece of beautiful embroidery as therapy work, probably in hospital. The therapy was mental and physical, in the physical sense enabling dexterity to a reconstituted body �.