Support us rebuild a First World War horse-drawn wagon

Description Due to this being considered a ‘weapon accessory’ we have had to relaunch following the crowdfunding provider cancelling their support. Thankfully no funds were lost but we have had to move it here. Gift Aid declaration: If you are a UK Taxpayer, we can increase the value of your donation by 25% if you complete your full address and select the Gift Aid variation. For more information on Gift Aid, please read https://bit.ly/VMGCRA-GiftAid At the Vickers MG Collection & Research Association we are much more than just a ‘gun collection’ and have thousands of accessories and archive items that help us educate about the role of machine gunnery and wider military history. One of the great pieces we have is a First World War ‘limbered wagon’ which was used to carry everything from the rum ration to artillery shells to the machine guns. Thousands were built but less than a handful survive. The problem with ours it that it’s only half of one! We have now secured the parts to build the other half but it is a large project and will take a year or so to complete and it needs woodworking skills, metalsmiths and even wheelwrights. We have many of these heritage skills in-house but we will need to commission specialists to do some parts. Once complete, we will be able to fill it with all of the items used by the likes of the Machine Gun Corps in the British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander and Indian armies to show how they transported vital equipment right up until the 1930s. It will be on display at our collection near Swindon, Wiltshire, but will also be a centrepiece for us to take to events around the UK. A limbered wagon was two separate parts: the front ‘fore’ portion and the rear ‘hind’ portion. We are lucky enough to already have a partially completed hind portion on display in our collection. It needs brake gear adding and the fore portion needs to be built completely but we have secured the metalwork to do this. At Chalke Valley in 2013, the hind portion of the limbered wagon, which is already in our collection, was used as the centrepiece of a display about the Machine Gun Corps. We have all of the equipment to fill the limbered wagon (both halves) as it would have been used in the First World War by the Machine Gun Corps. We are very grateful to all of our members, volunteers, patrons and other supporters for their contributions to our work. Please note that we have estimated the costs of the complete project and this will be amended as we refine our plans. Like this:Like Loading...