Collecting Oral History

Over the past three years the Royal Marines Museum and the Royal Marines Historical Society in Hampshire have been recording oral history interviews with serving Royal Marines about their experiences in Afghanistan.

Oral history interviews are usually conducted after a Royal Marine has completed their full career, meaning there can be a large period of time between a conflict and when the interview is conducted.

In 2008, the museum decided to create an exhibition about Afghanistan, which now has been installed in the permanent galleries. Because there had been little written at that time on the subject, oral history interviews were needed to help the project staff with their research.

The interviewers found interviews carried out specifically for the exhibition were very different to the full career interviews; they got detailed information about six-month deployments rather than an interview of the same length covering a 22-year career.

The project team also conducted some of the interviews in groups, which captured the dynamic that exists among members of a Royal Marines troop who have fought alongside each other.

It also captured the colloquial language unique to the Royal Marines and, most importantly, the banter between them.

Snippets from these interviews have been integrated into our permanent galleries about Afghanistan, allowing visitors to hear Royal Marines’ views on issues from kit and equipment to the the Afghan National Army, the conflict and other Royal Marines who have been killed in Afghanistan.

People regularly hear about Afghanistan in the media, but this oral history project offers them a personal side to the conflict.

Anna Cummins Curator of Artefacts at the Royal Marines Museum