THE GORDONS MARCH ON...
Melanie Henderson talks to the curator of Aberdeen's Gordon Highlanders Museum and goes behind the scenes of "the best regiment in the world."
There is no telling what
Melanie Brooker might find in the pile of mail
that lands daily on her desk: enquiries about
heroic great-grandfathers, thank-yous from
ex-POWs, letters about medals, letters about
battles, letters about anything that might lead
her on the trail of another beloved Gordon.
Everyone, it seems to her, has some connection to
the regiment that retains a place in so many
hearts.
As curator of the museum that commemorates these men, she is responsible for much more than dusting off medals and keeping an eye on display cases (although there is a great deal of that too). The Gordon Highlanders Museum is, you quickly realise, concerned with giving history a more intimate touch. That can involve a fair amount of thumbing through books.
"You can't live in Aberdeen for any length of time without coming into contact with the Gordon Highlanders," laughs Melanie. "They've been in the minds of most families in the area for so long. You just never know what requests there are going to be when you look through the post.
"That family interest is what I like. You can bring those lists of names to life. There are so many stories that can be told. It's very satisfying to speak to relatives about things they remember. Everything tells a personal story.
"We can't always answer people's questions, but we can usually point them the right way. What we can do is identify the period when their ancestor would have been in the Gordons and help them understand the events they would have been involved in.
"One unusual request I had recently came from England - an old church was being renovated to be turned into an old people's home and it was beside the school where a VC Gordon was a pupil. There was a plaque to him on the wall and they thought it would be a nice idea to have a picture of him in the foyer with some information about his life." As a result, J.A.O Brooke VC is now a pin-up, and his posthumous fame continues.
It was this genuine public affection that brought the Gordon Highlanders Museum into being. In 1991, when the Government announced that the Gordons and the Queens Own Regiment (Seaforths and Camerons) were to amalgamate, a campaign was mounted to prevent it. It received wide support throughout the North East and Scotland in general but, in spite of all the efforts, the amalgamation took place on September 17, 1994.
The Government planned to sell the building of St Luke's, in Aberdeen's Viewfield Road, where the Regimental Headquarters and Museum had been housed, and it seemed likely that it would move to Fort George. However, the Regimental trustees decided that, to retain the heritage where it belonged, they would purchase St Luke's in order to develop and fund it as a museum to the Gordon Highlanders. Now, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the help of 107 volunteers - from shop staff through to gardeners - the museum is thriving.
St Luke's, once the home of Aberdeen artist Sir George Reid, offers the perfect atmosphere for a display that spans 200 years of world history. It doesn't take long to start hearing rifle fire.
Visitors can immerse themselves in tales of courage on the battlefield in an audio visual room before progressing to the tour of artefacts representing just some of the Gordons' great deeds. Included are numerous medals, Victoria Crosses, an interactive touch screen, impressive models and reconstructions, and a children's handling area where dressing up is actively encouraged. There is also a temporary exhibition area, which houses two displays a year. The latest project, relating to Gordons as POWs in the Second World War - featuring yellowed postcards sent home by prisoners - has been a great success.
"It's not what people think it will be," says Melanie. "When they think of war museums they imagine just medals and weapons.
"Women, in particular, are always surprised because I don't think it would be their attraction of choice. By the time they get half way round you can see they're starting to enjoy themselves.
"We use everything we possibly can to try and tell the story of the regiment." And what a story. (More)
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