Spoils And Souvenirs

Black Watch Museum, Perth, until April 30

Poignant art installation Weeping Willow put Perth’s Black Watch Museum firmly on the map back in 2016.

Inspired by the centenary of the First World War, Paul Cummins and Tom Piper’s outdoor poppy sculpture helped attract around 115,000 visitors from across the globe to Balhousie Castle during its three-month residency.

Seen as a focal point for remembrance and learning about the Great War, Weeping Willow has been by far the museum’s most high-profile attraction since it underwent a £3.5 million redevelopment completed in 2013.

However, there’s also a regular diet of more under-the-radar educational exhibitions, talks and other activities at the award-winning regimental home.

The museum’s latest offering focuses on precious items from its extensive militaria collection that were taken as keepsakes by Scottish soldiers abroad. Covering generations in their timeframe, the artefacts on display that were brought home by troops from overseas operations include a Nazi flag, a Samurai sword and handkerchiefs embroidered by prisoners-of-war.

Many of the exhibits were donated to the museum by families of Black Watch soldiers, including a Nazi banner seized in 1942 during the evacuation of Nobruk, Libya. Positioned beside an SS helmet and officer’s cap, it’s displayed next to a photo of the Black Watch’s Capt Arthur Neave – who represented four of the defendants accused of war crimes at the Bergen-Belsen trials in 1945 – with his spoils.

Other items featured include a drum and spears brought back from Nigeria in the early 1900s by Capt Duncan Campbell of the West African Frontier Force, and a heart-rending pencil drawing and fabric design handmade by Pvt Samuel Craney while he was held in the notorious German POW camp Stalag XXB at Marienburg – or Malbork – in occupied Poland.

There’s also a unique embroidered handkerchief which bears the words

“Souvenir de Ypres”. While soldiers often brought back decorative hankies as gifts for their wives or mothers, this example shows a large building on fire, believed to be the vast Cloth Hall, a medieval commercial building in Ypres.

Dating back to the 13th Century, the historic market and warehouse was destroyed following heavy German artillery bombardment on November 22, 1914, during the First Battle of Ypres. “We are fortunate at the Black Watch Castle and Museum to have an amazing and diverse collection,” says museum assistant Fiona Connah.

“This exhibition takes inspiration from some of the more unusual items that were brought back by soldiers from their overseas postings. Many are simple reminders — pictures or artefacts, but others have darker connotations.”

Entry to the exhibition — which is open daily from 10am until 4pm (except March 16-22) — is included as part of the Black Watch Museum’s standard admission charge and with guided tours.

Items taken home by Black Watch soldiers, including embroideries and Japanese samurai sword, are on show.