YOUR OPINION - The importance of munitions

[j_maloney]

I'm a conservator currently writing a paper on the conservation of munitions and their care within collections and museums.

Munitions are objects that are often refused by museums for donation because of lack of knowledge and I am aiming to help boost awareness of their importance.

I am hoping for some quotable opinions by any enthusiastic collector on why they consider munitions an important aspect of history and why they consider them something worth preserving.

I would be extremely grateful for any input and opinions in response.

Many thanks,

J

 

[2pounder]

munitions

I'll start the ball rolling, maybe not quatable but: their manufacture takes a significant amount of resource, their components are often at the forefront of the technology of the time, they are what one group of humans send to another to kill and maim them. Like it or not they feature in our history and future and maybe if more people are aware of them then their use would be reduced. Despite that the mechanics of ammunition interests me. 2pr

 

[ydnum303]

Small-Arms ammunition (and also, I suspect, cannon and artillery ammunition) reflect the development of metallurgy, chemistry, engineering, physics, and ballistics. They are also a reflection of the politics and "social awareness" of their time (i.e., it was acceptable to use expanding ammunition against a "savage" enemy, but not a "civilised" one).

It is a reflection of the history of each individual nation, and their perception of their place in the world at any particular time, and also their perception of other nations' places!

Ammunition, and the weapons that fire them, do not exist as separate, unconnected, items, and any museum that has weapons as part of their collection should also have the appropriate ammunition for them if they wish to tell the whole story.

The same is no doubt true of other items of ordnance, and it is all a reflection on the nature of mankind.

Roger.

 

[Charlie]

"War" gives a reason for governments (kings in the past) to spend money on r&d and in times of 'need', lots of 'interesting' avenues are explored resulting in otherwise uninvestable ideas being funded. What we fight with is the end result of billions of pounds and the very best of human ingenuity. The best funding and the best brains! if thats not worth recording and conserving what is???!!!

 

[EODGUY]

I agree, that outside of military museums, the display of ordnance items is not all that common. Ordnance is rejected by most museums because they feel it has no public draw or interest and also because they also fear that it will violently explode at some inopportune time.
From the viewpoint of a military historian and collector though I feel ordnance, from small arms ammunition to bombs, deserves its rightful place in selected museums. Weapons are displayed openly, but without the associated ordnance, they would be useless in war. Ordnance has won the wars of the world! Each war has brought on newer ordnance technologies and designs. A display of any ordnance category can easily show how mankind has progressed in ordnance design and effectiveness. Whether you view that as a curse or a blessing, it is still an advancement in technology and knowledge and the ability to successfully conduct warfare. We have to remember that no one wants a war and wars are never started by those who fight them. But without ordnance and its continual development by all nations, just a few countries would rule the world. There are ways to properly certify an item inert for safe display so that fear is erroneous. Hopefully you can write a document that will be convincing. Bob

 

[bacarnal]

Though War is something that Humanity shouldn't be proud of, the search for better ways to either attack or defend ourselves from each other have brought out our best and brightest in the search for ways to NOT be subjugated. A mere 67 or so years have passed since the first TRUE Electronic Computer (ENIAC) was developed to solve ballistic equations of all things. Now we have, in our hands on a daily basis, computers with magnitudes of computational powers that allow us to talk to one another on the other side of the world. There are bombs that can target to the centimeter what took hundreds of aircraft and thousands of pounds to achieve. Just the fact that I can write this opinion and share it with people across the globe is a testimony to not only Mans paranoia, but also his hope. Though it is an ugly side of us, it IS our history and shouldn't be hidden as some disgusting malady. Instead, it needs to be recognized for the LIFE SAVING advances that it has spawned, and acknowledged for what it HAS done for this World.

This is me getting down from my soapbox. Cheers, Bruce.