SUFFOLK REGIMENT MUSEUM

BURY ST EDMUNDS

The museum was opened in 1935. It was housed in various buildings on the Regimental Depot site, including the Sergeants’ Mess and Officers’ Mess, before moving in 1968 to its present location in the former Armoury. The first floor room is where, by the 1930s, new recruits were fitted out with their uniform and equipment.

The displays tell the story of the regiment from its foundation in 1685 to amalgamation with the Royal Norfolk Regiment in 1959. The history covers the regular, militia, volunteer and war-time battalions as well as the experience of individual soldiers and is told through medals, uniforms, photographs, weapons, equipment and personal memorabilia. A small display at Moyses Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds gives an overview of the story, while the regimental archive and photograph collection are on deposit at the Bury St Edmunds branch of the Suffolk Record Office.

OBJECT OF THE MONTH

Identity discs of Lieut Hugh Monier-Williams

Identity discs of Lieut Hugh Monier-Williams. He was twice awarded the Military Cross during the 1914-1918 War, while serving with the Machine Gun Corps. He later commanded the 2nd Battalion The Suffolk Regiment on the North-West Frontier in the early years of the 1939-1945 War. An accomplished artist, he was one of the leading historians of the Regiment.