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The Firepower Museum tells the story of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, and of the Woolwich Royal Arsenal. It is located in some of the former buildings of the Royal Arsenal, which was Britain's principal ordnance manufacturing facility from the early 18th century until the mid-20th century. Since the turn of the millennium the Royal Arsenal site has been undergoing a mixed-use redevelopment, and Firepower has been one of the anchor features of this project. The forerunner of Firepower was the Royal Military Repository, which was established on the Royal Arsenal site in May 1778. After a fire in 1802 the surviving artefacts were rehoused in the Old Royal Military Academy. In 1820 the main collection was moved to the Rotunda on Woolwich Common. The collection moved to Firepower in April 2001. All of Firepower's buildings were once part of the Royal Laboratory Department, which controlled the manufacture of ammunition. (Source: Wikipedia).
From its beginnings, the Royal Artillery has been based at Woolwich, in south-east London. However, in 2003 it was decided to move the headquarters to Larkhill on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire (the RA’s training ground, where the Royal School of Artillery has been based since 1915). The last Royal Artillery troops left Woolwich Barracks in 2007, breaking the long term link between Woolwich and the RA. Similarly, due to low visitor numbers plans have been made to close the museum by 2017. The main collection will be removed with elements covering the Royal Arsenal's Woolwich history kept in one of the buildings. (Source: Wikipedia, This Is Local London).
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Entrance Area
| Location ID: | 3250 | | Latitude, Longitude: | 51.493924, 0.069708 | | Location Accuracy: | 7 |
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Unique ID: |
2494
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“20925” and “31023”? cast into gun mount sides. Painted overall desert sand.
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This 2S3 is displayed in a fenced enclosure opposite the museum’s main entrance. It is presumed to have been captured during the first Gulf War.
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Gunnery Hall
The Gunnery Hall displays weapons and vehicles of the 20th Century including anti-aircraft, anti-tank, coastal defence, light and medium artillery, as well as self-propelled guns and missile launchers. It features artillery from World War 2 and the Cold War up to the modern day.
| Location ID: | 3251 | | Latitude, Longitude: | 51.493953, 0.070663 | | Location Accuracy: | 7 |
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Unique ID: |
2535
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49 KB 56: “49 KB 56” stencilled on stowage box above cab and on hull rear.
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2536
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06 EB 89: “06 EB 89” stencilled on nose and left hull rear.
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Painted overall in a green and black camouflage scheme.
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2537
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No shop number visible on rear plate.
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“E1232 OSF 1310” and other markings cast into transmission covers. White stars painted on superstructure sides.
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This Sexton was previously on display at the Artillery Museum at Woolwich Rotunda.
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Field of Fire
The aim of this gallery is to give an idea of what it is like to be a gunner in action. Four large screens show archive film and documentary footage reliving desert and jungle warfare, anti-aircraft guns defending London in the ‘Blitz’ and the bombardment of the beaches in the Normandy landing on D-Day. The audience, standing on a central raised platform, is surrounded by the guns representing the stories being told, including a 2 pounder anti-tank gun, anti-aircraft guns, field guns and an Honest John nuclear rocket system.
| Location ID: | 3252 | | Latitude, Longitude: | 0, 0 | | Location Accuracy: | 0 |
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2580
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Painted overall desert sand.
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This Priest has duckbill extended end connectors on its tracks. It was previously on display at the Artillery Museum at Woolwich Rotunda.
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2586
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Painted overall sand.
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This M110 was previously on display at the Artillery Museum at Woolwich Rotunda. It is displayed in a tableau with crew mannequins.
It was shipped back from the Gulf and selected for the Museum, and was repainted before being put on display. A sub-machine gun was found under the flooring wrapped in hessian and believed to have been from Syrian forces; it was deactivated and is now in the museum’s collection. (Source: R. Farrant/HMVF).
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Monster Bits Gallery
This gallery houses the more recent part of the RA collection, in the south bay of the area known as New Laboratory Square. In the latter years of the 19th Century, when the Arsenal was in its heyday, this building was a bullet factory supplying munitions for the Boer War. It now contains a broad collection of artillery including a significant range of self-propelled weapons.
| Location ID: | 3253 | | Latitude, Longitude: | 51.49424, 0.069424 | | Location Accuracy: | 7 |
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7) SP-70 Self-Propelled Howitzer
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German / British / Italian
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Unique ID: |
325
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99SP44: “99 SP 44” painted on lower nose.
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2579
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02 BB 39: “02BB39” previously painted on nose.
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“D JL-0820 12-5”, “B2 385051 RFY0254” and “WHY0271 MY1101” stamped into hull rear.
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This M44 was previously on display at the Artillery Museum at Woolwich Rotunda. It is fitted with a tarpaulin awning.
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2495
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This M40 was previously at the Artillery Museum at Woolwich Rotunda, when it had its driver’s position sidewall cut away to display the interior.
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2587
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04 ED 21: “04 ED 21” stencilled on nose and hull rear.
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This M107 was previously on display at the Artillery Museum at Woolwich Rotunda.
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1492
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00 HB 60: “00 HB 60” painted on nose.
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“Λ” painted on turret sides. Painted overall desert sand.
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In 1994 the British Army sold its M109s to the Austrian Army as it converted to the AS90. The Austrian government refurbished an M109 for the Woolwich museum so the registration number might be from a British vehicle but not necessarily this one. It is fitted with tracks of an older style than those used on British examples. (Source: M. Godsman/Missing Lynx).
It is currently fitted with large stowage cages on the front of the turret; however it was previously displayed inside the museum without these.
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Unique ID: |
2588
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06 BX 05: “06BX05” painted on nose and rear ramp.
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Painted overall in a green and black camouflage scheme.
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It is presumed that this is an ex-British Army vehicle and would therefore have served with 50 Missile Regiment in Germany during the 1980s before being disposed of through the Vehicle Depot at Ludgershall in about 1992.
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Unique ID: |
2599
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00 V1 00: “00 V1 00” painted on nose and rear door.
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Painted overall in a green and black camouflage scheme.
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This Stormer has a label that reads: “This particular vehicle is a manufacturer’s prototype”.
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2597
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193: “193” stamped into upper right nose plate and into right idler wheel mounting.
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Fitted with triple rubber-block tracks. Front and upper rear towing lugs painted white.
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This Centurion is a Mark 5 observation post vehicle; it has a label that reads: “Royal Artillery batteries supporting armoured formations used it as an Armoured Observation Post (AOP)... The only distinguishing feature was the extra antennae fitted for their communications equipment. As the Army replaced Centurions with Chieftain tanks at the end of the 1960s, the Centurion AOP was used less and less. Two tanks were issued to each battery but were difficult to maintain and rarely left barracks. In the 1980s, when the sophisticated Challenger was introduced, the Royal Artillery’s Centurions were retired in favour of ‘Warrior’ armoured fighting vehicles. This particular tank was used for driver training and consists of a Mark 3 hull with a Mark 5 turret.”
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Unique ID: |
2598
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22 KK 85: “22 KK 85” painted on nose and rear door.
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Painted overall in a green and black camouflage scheme.
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Status Unknown
| Location ID: | 3254 | | Latitude, Longitude: | 0, 0 | | Location Accuracy: | 0 |
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Unique ID: |
2600
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“T22” painted in white in black square on hull sides. Painted overall desert sand.
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This 2S1 is presumed to have been captured during the first Gulf War. In June 2011 it was photographed in a courtyard outside the museum (source: A. Barclay/Flickr); previously it had been photographed inside the museum. Its current location and status are unknown.
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