The Staffordshire Regiment Museum

24/06/2026

See you Saturday Watchman 🐾🇬🇧❤️

Day 2285

Wednesday Memory ❤️

Good morning, we're in the trenches this weekend The Staffordshire Regiment Museum .....
Meet Aunty Rachael, deep in the English side, its the Battle of the Somme weekend, a name for ever in nations and team Watchman’s heart❤️🐾

VIVAT REX
ICH DIEN
❤️🐾🐾🐾

21/06/2026

19/06/2026

The Battle of the Somme 110th Anniversary event day is shaping up to be a fantastic day out.
Detailed timetable of events now available.

08/06/2026

Tamworth Games Club will be running a wargame activity in the Museum on Sunday 14 June, this event is included in the price of your ticket.

08/06/2026

Autumn Military History Talks
On sale from today, two very different talks.
Thursday 8th October, Brigadier (Retd) SJ Banton OBE - Back to Afghanistan.
Thursday 22nd October, Brigadier (Retd) JK Tanner OBE - Hills of Hell.
Details advertised in the flyer. £25 per talk, or £40 if both talks purchased at the same time.
Tickets are selling already, and as last year, these talks are sure to sell out quite quickly. Call the museum on 01543 434394 to secure your seat.

31/05/2026

📜Our final instalment of 'Direct from the archives' 📜
The first photograph is of a 'Bone' necklace.
Over 9000 Boer prisoners of war (POW) were transported from South Africa to India during the Second Boer War of 1899-1902 and interned in camps right across the Indian continent. The attached picture shows a bone necklace carved by a Boer prisoner of war who was initially held at Bellary POW Camp. This rare item was later acquired by a South Staffordshire soldier serving in India in 1902. Boer prisoners often carved and created items to exchange for food and supplies.

The second photo shows A 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment soldier flanked by two tall Boer prisoners of war at Ambala POW Camp in India in 1901.

We hope you enjoyed this weekends selection of information and photo's from the museums archives.
Matt will be digging for more stories and photo's again soon.
If you're family history has a North or South Staffordshire Regiment connection and you would like any research carried out, please get in touch by emailing [email protected]

31/05/2026

📜More of 'Direct from our archives' 📜
On this anniversary weekend of the Boer War,
Photograph of Blockhouse
The latter stages of the war saw the British engaged in a counter-insurgency campaign against Boer forces. This aimed to restrict Boer movements via the use of blockhouses at key road and rail intersections. These blockhouses were solid defensive fortifications usually garrisoned by seven soldiers with their own food and water supply. The attached image shows an early variant of blockhouse construction primarily using stone and consisting of multiple levels. These types of blockhouses were eventually phased due to cost and time constraints. They were replaced by a cheaper corrugated iron alternative.
More archive history later today....

30/05/2026

📜Last instalment for today, but lots more tomorrow on this Boer War anniversary special📜
A sweetheart brooch belonging to a soldier of the 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. This item was created in South Africa in 1900. Unfortunately, its previous owner remains a mystery!

30/05/2026

📜More Boer War history from our archives.📜Another instalment due at 17.00
A British Second Boer War watch fob.
Depicting a British soldier with the words ‘Wiping Something Off a Slate’, this fob was created during 1900. The phrase refers to the British avenging their past defeat in the First Anglo-Boer War of 1880-1881. It was originally used by Rudyard Kipling as part of his poem titled the ‘Absent Minded Beggar’ as part of an initiative to seek funding and support for the Second Boer War of 1899-1902. The reverse side of the fob features a list of successful battles won by the British in the first year of the war. The Battle Honours include Dundee, Elandslaagte, Kimberley, Paardeberg, and Ladysmith.

30/05/2026

🪖📜DIRECT FROM THE ARCHIVES 📜 - On the Anniversary of the Boer War, our curator and head of research, Matt Naughton has put together some fascinating information with images. Read on, and check back at 16.00 for info on a British second Boer War watch fob.
'This weekend marks the anniversary of the end of the Second Boer War; a conflict fought in South Africa from 1899-1902 by the British against the Boer Republics. Both the South Staffordshire Regiment and North Staffordshire Regiment provided various battalions to fight in this campaign, including regular, militia and volunteer forces.
Although not involved in the initial pitched battles of the South African campaign, the Stafford's played a major role in the garrison and security of cities such as Johannesburg. They were also deployed on counter-insurgency operations and spent many days tracking and chasing Boer Commandos across vast South African territory.
Conditions were exceptionally difficult with high temperatures, scarce food supplies and disease taking toll on the Stafford’s. Many of the casualties from the campaign were a result of enteric fever as opposed to combat.