Artefacts from the First and Second World Wars

The contributor explained that his grandfather, Francis "Frank" Kelland (1885-1969), had served in both the First and Second World Wars. Throughout the First World War, the contributor advised that Frank was an AB Seaman on HMS Conqueror, serving in the gunnery direction department of the battleship and surviving the main clash of fleets at Jutland in 1916. The contributor noted that, at the end of the war, HMS Conqueror and numerous other British ships were guarding the German High Seas Fleet which had been interned at Scapa Flow in Scotland.

The contributor commented that the Germans had been forced under the terms of the 1918 Armistice to surrender their fleet, and in November 1918 they sailed across the North Sea to the Home Fleet base in Scotland. The contributor advised that the Germans had expected to be held for a short while and then released but, as the weeks turned into months, the German sailors who were being fed basic rations by the British were increasingly discontent. The contributor noted that they had fought for 5 years and now wished to return home as the war was over. The contributor shared that, in order to gain extra items like cigarettes and meat, the Germans bartered with their captors and this was likely how Frank had acquired the telescope. The contributor highlighted that, after seven months, the Germans became convinced that the British would seize the vessels for their own Navy and, on 21 June 1919, they scuttled their own fleet at Scapa Flow. The contributor added that the ships that carried the 15 cm SK L/45 that were interned at Scape Flow included the battleships Bayern, Derflinger, Hindenburg, Seydlitz, Grosser Kurfurst, Konig, Markgraf, and Kronprinz; as well as cruisers Brummer and Bremse. The contributor did not know from which ship the telescope was removed.

The contributor shared about the items he had brought in, which had belonged to his grandfather. He noted that the spotting telescope was acquired from a battleship around 1914. The aircraft compass was from a PBY Catalina and was acquired by Frank during the Second World War. The contributor stated that the gas mask was issued from the mid 1930s by Pressed Steel Company and includes a section for spare lenses. When the gas mask was thrown away, its case could be used as a watertight container. The contributor described the book, "Forever England," as propaganda for children, which portrays the country in a very positive tone.