Agenda for Secondary Schools

Remembrance

We offer these sessions particularly around the time of Remembrance Day but are willing to deliver it at any time of year. We focus on one of three conflicts, which all look to answer three basic questions: Who are we remembering? Why are we remembering them? How do we remember them? We use a combination of materials including memorials in the museum and its grounds and the Museum’s Medal Collection.

Western Front

The Battle of Passchendaele in 1917 is told through the tale of two Royal Marines who took part in the battle.

The Great War at sea

The story of naval warfare is highlighted by the tales of two Royal Marines who took part in the battle of Jutland in 1916.

D Day

Ship’s gunners, landing craft coxswains and commandos on the beaches demonstrate the scope of Operation Neptune in Normandy in 1944 and the wildly different experiences of Royal Marines on D Day

World War I and II

D Day

D Day was the largest concentration of Royal Marines in history. We discover the choices made by the generals planning Operation Neptune. We then use the diaries and recollections of four Royal Marines to look at the wildly different experiences of ship’s gunners, landing craft coxswains and the Commandos on the beaches.

Far East

This new session focuses on the Royal Marines serving in the Far East during the Second World War. Looking at the experiences of Commandos in Burma we discover a very different conflict to that in Europe

Nazi Germany.

How easily did Germany turn to the Nazis? This session uses various activities to show how easily it could happen. We then use Nazi artefacts liberated during the war and various documents to discover life in Nazi Germany and the ideology and propaganda of the Nazi machine.

Northern Ireland

The Royal Marines completed more tours of Northern Ireland any other unit in the UK armed forces, so they can be used to shed some light on a complex and emotional subject. With a mixture of role play and artefacts from the collection we learn a little of the atmosphere and difficulties that faced the people and the soldiers there. We finish with an activity that highlights the difficult and rapid decisions that young soldiers had to make. With advance booking it may be possible to bring in a former Royal Marine with experience of Northern Ireland.

Literacy day

Designed as a full day immersive activity we induct the group into Royal Marines Combat Intelligence. Their job is simple, to identify and foil a terrorist attack on Portsmouth. A series of clues through the day will unlock the identity of the terrorist and their plan. The day ends with the apprehension of the terrorist and the diffusing of the bomb. Either that or the destruction of the museum.

Developed in association with Portsmouth Education Business Partnership

Science

Materials. The changing materials and design criteria of Royal Marines uniforms come under the spotlight in this science session. Through a variety of activities we trace the material science & thinking that goes into military uniforms from Trafalgar to the present day and into the future.

Developed in association with Admiral Lord Nelson School & the Zoological Society of London

Predators & Prey. The behaviour and equipment of Royal Marines on operation are used to shed light on the way that animals adapt to their environment & ecological niche. We look at four key facets of adaptation and show how the conscious choices of Royal Marines mirror the natural processes of animals in their environment