Drawing Tuesday - Chelsea Pensioners Museum

Chelsea Pensioners are "those old guys in the red coats" - retired from the army, living at Royal Hospital Chelsea since 1692, and surrendering their pension for the privilege. In 2009 women were included. The Hospital remained responsible for distributing Army pensions until 1955.

Accommodation is in "berths" in long wards. Since modernisation, completed in the 1990s, each measures 9 feet square (formerly 6 feet square) -

 and accommodates mod cons - but the berths had no lighting till electricity was installed in the early 1900s.

 Click on the image to read more.

The museum has many cases of medals that belonged to former residents, and an array of cap badges -

some of which depicted noble animals -

 I also found "Black Jack", a leather jug used to bring beer up from the cellar to the Great Hall, where the pensioners ate - it's huge -

 Najlaa went hunting for keys -

In the Army Museum next door, Sue found an officer's drab-coat, used for desert camouflage -

 ... and Janet K found 17th century fighting garb -

Back with the pensioners, Carol was take by the inter-department document trolley -

 ... and, having missed her train into town, had drawn some other passengers waiting at the station -

 Strange object of the week - Najlaa found it in a charity shop -

We concluded these must be rub-off transfers - but when or where (or why!) would you use them?

More useful is this souvenir from the shop -

It illustrates the major medals, and at the bottom is a key to some of the ribbons, which are an at-a-glance guide (to those in the know!) to the wearer's service history. To the rest of us, they are a secret, stripey code...