Allahabad :
To mark the centenary year of the World War I, the Allahabad Museum will set up a gallery displaying arms and armours, including light machine guns and pistols, used in both world wars by August end. Renowned poet William Cowper’s quote, “War lays a burden on the reeling state, And peace does nothing to relieve the weight,” will be the theme of the gallery.
Museum director Rajesh Purohit said, “A light machine gun having a number on the outer side as MG 08/15 and manufactured in 1917 was used during the World War I. Another machine gun maxim MG 08/15 manufactured in 1918, pepper box revolver with six barrels and a six cartridge belonging to the 19th Century are prominent displays which were used during the World War-I. Their advanced versions were used in WW II.”
The other weapons to be displayed in the gallery are a muzzle loading, percussion cap firing system pistol and a smooth bore pistol with ram rod having a size 31cm and 1.6 cm belonging to early decades of 19th Century. Apart from the arms used in the two World Wars, the gallery would also exhibit pistols, swords, khukhri, bayonet and chest plates used by freedom fighters. Dumped in museum’s reserve collection along with 3,000 objects and antiquities, these arms and armours were away from public eye till 2011. After four years of classification, cataloguing and preservation, the objects classified under ‘arms and armours’ are ready to be displayed for visitors. These include various types of pistols, rifles and light machine guns. At present the museum has catalogued 211 weapons. However, the rifles that were in vogue during the WW II are yet to be displayed.
Most of these weapons are in good condition and could be used even after 100 years. The museum had roped in Allahabad University’s department of Defence Studies for cataloguing the guns and other arms. “A brigadier was also consulted to ascertain the present condition of the weapon. AU’s RK Tandon and Onkar Wankhede of the museum toiled hard towards restoration and preservation of arms. A total of 211 weapons are in the gallery,” said Purohit.
However, the museum had not documented donors of these weapons. “The museum started functioning with a small collection in 1931. With passage of time, donations started pouring in. We lack accounts of persons who donated various items, including arms and armours to the museum till 1950s,” said Purohit.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Allahabad / by Vinod Khanal, TNN / August 20th, 2015