This brand-new £15m museum will see visitors embarking on an immersive, multimedia journey through more than 360 years of Royal Marines history, from 1664 to today. Designed for families, veterans, serving personnel, history lovers and anyone curious about what it takes to become a Commando, the Experience will combine powerful storytelling with hands-on activities, multimedia displays, immersive technology and objects that reveal the people behind more than 360 years of service.
The Experience will also create a sense of place where members of the Royal Marines Family can connect with their history and each other. At the heart of this will be the newly established Remembrance Room, free to enter, where families can reflect on, and remember those who gave their lives in service to their country.
This is a long-awaited opening, with the former Royal Marines Museum closing in 2017. The Royal Marines Experience will create a new national home for the story of the Royal Marines, bringing the story, spirit and service of the Royal Marines to life for visitors of all ages.
Royal Navy Museums has developed the Experience with Royal Marines voices at its heart, drawing on serving and former Royal Marines, families and specialists, so the galleries connect heritage with today’s service. A variety of people with experience of active service, connections to the objects on display and who have been involved in designing the interactive experiences will be available for interview, along with the management and curatorial team. A full list of spokespeople will be provided nearer the time.
Hundreds of historic and modern items will be on display, revealing the Royal Marines rich, on-going history, including:
o All 10 Victoria Crosses awarded to the Royal Marines, from the Crimean War to Second World War, brought together to tell stories of exceptional bravery and service
o Warrant Officer ‘Mac’ McNaghten’s AI Faw briefing model, built in secret whilst onboard HMS Ocean enroute to the Persian Gulf in 2003 and used by 40 Commandos to plan their attack on the Al Faw peninsula.
o A medal presentation box given to Marine David Davidson by his husband Ernest and the Royal British Legion. The decoration shows David landing in Egypt during the Suez Crisis in 1956.
o A Green beret worn by Marine W.G.C. ‘Molly’ MacPherson who served in 3 Troop, K Company, 42 Commando during the Falklands War. Marines serving during the Falklands war preferred to wear Green Berets rather than helmets as they thought that the Green Beret was ‘bulletproof’.
Royal Marines Experience brings the world of the Corps to life through a dynamic mix of physical challenges, immersive films, hands on training simulations and rich digital storytelling. Visitors can test their strength and stamina in activities such as press ups, pull ups, rope climbs and rucksack lifts, each guided by a digital Royal Marines PT instructor. They can also step into commando training with interactive avatars, assemble a KS1 rifle, navigate maps, and try drill movements co produced with real instructors. Extreme environments are explored through VR battle scenarios, a traversing wall set against projected Marine footage, and even boarding a Pacific 22 RIB with a dramatic seascape backdrop. Across the experience, touchscreen databases and a large scale timeline open up more than 360 years of history, while installations like the new Globe and Laurel badge and the Commando Force zone connect past, present and future. It’s an energetic, multi sensory journey designed to show what it takes, and what it means, to be a Royal Marine.
The £15m project has been supported by a £4.4million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players, alongside funding from the Garfield Weston Foundation, Royal Navy Museums reserves and private donations. Thanks to this grant as well as future donations, the Royal Marines Experience is set to transform the historic 1840’s Grade II* listed Boathouse 6 in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard into a dynamic national centre, celebrating the service and history of the Royal Marines.
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