War museum heading to the region

A private collector has splashed out around £100,000 to buy an entire collection being displayed at a museum in Belgium.

Around 15,000 uniforms, weapons and other artefacts from the attraction are being flown over to the UK later this year.

The collector, who lives in Chasetown but does not want to be named, is now on the search for the perfect venue to store the items and open the museum in the centenary year of the start of the Great War.

He said today: "Ideally I would love to open the museum in Staffordshire. But if I can't find a venue here, then somewhere in Shropshire or Warwickshire would be okay.

"I first went to the museum in 2002 with my wife. We were on holiday and it was the first place we stopped off at.

"The museum was hidden away at the back of a pub. Since then it has become my favourite museum and I've been back many times. It's a massive collection.

"I have contacted a local council but haven't heard anything back yet."

The Ramparts War Museum in Ypres has been open since 2000. It gets around 150 to 200 visitors each day and is set out in the form of various trenches.

The museum's owner died this year and his family decided to sell the collection which includes dozens of British, German, French, American and Belgian uniforms. A Belgian Trooper uniform there is one of only three in existence around the world.

Weapons at the museum include grenade launchers, rifles and underground mines.

The collector, who has had a keen interest in war memorabilia for the past 30 years, added: "Some of the items are very rare. There's a uniform in the collection that is only one of three in the world.

"I know it's a mammoth task. I need to find a venue where I can get a long term lease to house the collection.

"But this year is a special one being the 100th anniversary. In the future I'd love to buy a venue myself and house the museum permanently there.

"The museum covers all aspects of the war on the Western Front.

"I'd also encourage anyone with collections to get in touch with me as they could also include their items at the museum.

"When the museum opens to the public, I want schools to visit to learn all about the war. They don't get taught enough about the First World War in the classroom.

"This museum brings learning to life with its sound affects which I now have."

All the artefacts from the museum will be flown over to Staffordshire in November and they will be put into storage for the first few months. Some of the weapons will have to be checked by experts to ensure they are safe.

During the Great War, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between German and Allied forces. As As it was hard to pronounce in English, British troops nicknamed the city 'Wipers.'

In August 2014 the world will mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War.

It was revealed in March that a new £11 million museum paying tribute to the soldiers of the Midlands is to be built in Staffordshire.

It will stand on the site of the current Staffordshire Regimental Museum at Whittington, which will be demolished, and incorporate the Army Medical Services Museum relocated from Aldershot.

It will encompass the museums of the Mercian Regiment, in Worcester, and the Staffordshire Yeomanry, at the Ancient High House in Stafford.

The new building, which will house the newly created Museum of the Soldiers of Staffordshire and Mercia and the National Museum of Military Medicine, is expected to be open by 2018 to mark the 100-year anniversary of the end of the war.

A full-scale operation to raise the money in time, called Project Frontline, has now been launched.

Anyone interested in donating any items to the collection can call 07738 299766.