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From the Museum
REME Trades in the Archive: Armourer
We thought that it would be of interest to readers to provide a glimpse of what our archives reveal about the history of REME trades. Although the focus in this series of articles will be on the current eight REME trades, it is worth mentioning that some of the historic trades (in 1942 there were 59) are represented in the archives as well. This series of articles was inspired by the excellent piece entitled History of REME Trade Changes since its Formation in 1942, by the museum’s former Pictorial Archivist Malcolm Heppolette, which appeared in the REME Journal, Issue No 22, 2011. We are not, therefore, attempting to write a detailed story about each trade (for which we would probably need a whole issue of The Craftsman to ourselves), but only to provide a selection of what we have in the archives relating to our trades.
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REME Workshop Malta, 1944 (A: 1962.0510.07) Armourer’s Quarterly Inspection Report (A: 2012.5588) Armourers’ Job Book December 1951 (A: 1975.1398)
We start off with Armourers, Gun Fitters included, which were amalgamated into the Armourer’s trade in 2001. All the material in our archives is donated, so unfortunately, we may not have everything that there is about a particular subject. The archives holds official and personal collections, including, but not restricted to, documents, photographic material and drawings. These items reflect various aspects of life as a REME Armourer. Although we are looking mainly at the paper (2D) material, the museum’s collections include objects too such as: tools, tool boxes, tool bags, badges, medals and more. All this material helps us to tell the stories of REME Armourers around the world, from the Second World War right through to more recent times.
The following examples relating to the Second World War are from the official records in our archives such as war
REME Airborne Personnel, Op MARKET (E: 08.0006) Armourer’s Mobile Workshop Korea (E:13.1503.037)
Armourers, 23 Base Workshop, Wetter (E:09.0166.06) Repairing a Browning .303 Machine Gun at 27 Command Workshops, Warminster (E: 09.0345.017)
reports, operational diaries, and other material describing REME trades from the period. The Armourer’s Quarterly Inspection Report for C Company, 1st Bn Coldstream Guards, provides details of an inspection in June 1943, somewhere in the “Field” and lists the various weapons and their condition.
The black and white photograph is of the Central Armourers’ Shop, Small Arms Section, Malta, in 1944. An average of 1,100 jobs were turned out from this 5,000 square foot workshop. The print is from a photograph album produced at the time to give a “rapid pictorial view of the activities of REME Malta”, hoping that it would be of interest to all units on the island and to the various branches of Command HQ. REME Armourers are included in a list of REME Personnel of 1st Airborne Division in
Unit photograph of Central Armourers’ Workshop (E: 09.0354)
Assembly and disassembly of General Purpose Machine Guns (E: 11.0876) Armourer adjusting foresight of a 7.62 mm Self-Loading Rifle in the Armourers’ shop, 1 QLR LAD (E: 11.0877)
Armourer’s Course Notebook Front Cover and Drawing (A: 2012.5587)
Airlifts on Operation MARKET. The document forms part of an Appendix to the DEME’s (Director of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering) Report on REME activities in Operation MARKET.
We can learn more about the circumstances in which REME Armourers served in Korea (1951-1953) from photographs such as the example which shows a mobile Armourer’s workshop in Korea.
The work of armourers in the 1950s is also demonstrated in a page from an Armourers’ Daily Job Book, 37 Rhine Workshop, BAOR (British Army of the Rhine), in two volumes. Volume I starts in 1944 and goes through to June 1952. Volume II continues on until December 1956. The jobs were listed over two pages per week, describing the types of weapons under repair as allocated per individual (including civilians), as well as the total production for the week of 9-15 December 1951.
Armourers at work in a similar large static workshop of the BAOR during the 1960s, are shown in the image which depicts Armourers in 23 Base Workshop, Wetter, working on MOBAT Recoilless Anti-Tank Guns.
Service at home is depicted in these images from 27 Command Workshops, Warminster, also in the 1960s, showing a Browning .303 Machine Gun being repaired in the Armourers’ shop and a unit photo of the Central Armourers’ Shop.
Armourers’ personal collections provide a fascinating insight into the lives, careers and activities of the Armourers who donated their material to the museum. The following photographs, which form part of these collections, depict activities such as maintenance, work on exercise and training during the 1970s-1990s.
These collections also include such items as notebooks, service papers, medals, objects and other memorabilia.
The examples below are of a notebook used during training in the 1940s and a page from an Armourer’s Apprentice notebook.
