The Department's collection covers the weapons of the British and Commonwealth soldier from the age of the longbow to the present day. It includes 2,500 edged weapons, 200 pole-arms and 1,850 firearms. There are also in excess of 7,000 items of personal equipment, including iconic objects such as Florence Nightingale’s lamp and Lord Raglan’s Crimean telescope.
The collection also includes scientific tools, musical instruments, armour and horse furniture. Among the many models and dioramas, there is a stunning 420 square foot model of the Battle of Waterloo complete with over 70,000 model soldiers. The Department looks after over 200 vehicles, tanks, armoured cars and artillery pieces, including a bronze Tudor cannon and one of the last World War Two Smith Guns in existence.
Address: National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, London, SW3 4HT
Head of Department: Gill Brewer
gbrewer@national-army-museum.ac.uk
Department Email: wev@national-army-museum.ac.uk
Enquiries
The National Army Museum will try to answer specific questions relating to its Collections. If you are researching the military career of a relative please visit our Research Tips page.
General enquiries about the Collections can be sent by e-mail to info@national-army-museum.ac.uk. Please remember to include your postal address on all e-mail enquiries to allow for the prompt dispatch of material, if appropriate. Please also bear in mind that the Museum receives a large number of enquiries, so it may not be possible to respond to e-mails immediately. All enquiries, in whatever form, are dealt with by the departments in the order of their receipt.
Museum staff are not permitted to give valuations: these may be obtained instead from an auction house or a specialist dealer.
The Museum may lend artefacts only to Registered (or the equivalent) museums for Special Exhibitions, for a maximum period of a year and subject to specific Conditions of Loan.
Ordering copy photographs from the National Army Museum
Copy photographs of items in the Collections can be supplied, providing that copyright of the image is held by the Museum. Please note that, under current EU legislation, copyright remains with the artist or photographer of a work for 70 years after their death and that, in these cases, the Museum cannot supply any reproductions, for any reason.
For more information about ordering copy photographs, please contact the Museum’s Photographic Department by e-mail to photo@national-army-museum.ac.uk, by telephone on 020 7730 0717 extension 2324, or by fax on 020 7823 6573.
