Gallery Decant – Part 3

Deinstalling the Worcestershire Soldier Gallery…

The Mercian Regiment has a long and distinguished history, from its inception as the 29th Regiment of Foot to the present. The museum has collated an extensive collection of medals belonging to heroic Officers and Other Ranks and which tell stories of service and sacrifice.

The medals on display in the former Worcestershire Soldier Gallery were removed, sympathetically cleaned and secured into storage containers during the second week of September 2025. A selection of photographs were taken of every medal and medal set via a laptop installed camera software. By using a remote controlled software, our team could manage lighting levels, exposure and focus quality, all without interfering with the camera and risking image distortion.

Much like our edged weaponry, the light reflection off the medals caused difficulties in capturing details in our photographs. This was crucial for condition reports and future media output, and was resolved by carefully and repeatedly changing the camera settings throughout the day. The camera was able to capture key features like metal tarnish and dents, as well as written details like battle honours, clasps and figures.

The museum’s significant collection includes Campaign Medals, ranging from the Sikh Wars during the 1800s, the Boer War at the turn of the century, to more present campaigns in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan.

Major CH Ralston joined the Worcestershire Regiment as a boy aged 14 in 1887 and served continuously with the 2nd Battalion in Bermuda, the Boer War (South Africa), India, and France and Flanders (WWI). He went into France in August 1914 and was present at the Battle of Gheluvelt. Ralston holds a campaign medal with clasps for the Boer War and First World War.

The prestigious Victoria Cross Medal is awarded to soldiers for gallantry in the presence of the enemy and is one of the highest medals for valour. Our specially dedicated display to the VCs of the Worcestershire Regiment was also considerately removed and boxed, to be displayed in a new and exiting configuration at The Commandery!

Private Thomas Turrall of the 10th Battalion was awarded the Victoria Cross for action at La Boiselle, the Somme, on the 3td July 1916. Turrall carried his wounded commanding officer into a shell-hole under heavy machine-gun fire and administered what first aid he could. He then protected the officer for three hours before making his way back to British lines under cover of night.

Perhaps lesser known is the Croix de Guerre medal (a French military decoration created in 1915 and 1939 for feats of bravery for an individual or group during the World Wars). And the Distinguished Conduct Medal, DCM (instituted in 1854 to recognise gallantry in the field by Other Ranks). Several of these medal types made up the former Worcestershire Soldier Gallery.

Sergeant G Ellis was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for conspicuous gallantry and ability on 31st October at Gheluvelt, in the control of his men during the very critical engagement.

After the medals had been dusted, photographed and condition checked, they were pinned to a plastazote foam base using sowing pins, foam blocks, and archival tape. To maximise space, three layers were created for one plastic container, using the foam blocks as dividers. Utilising foam blocks also avoided pinning the display plaques directly.

For more on the gallery decant 2025, check out the Gallery Updates area of the Museum Blogs page for more timelapse videos covering the rest of the collection.