Suffolk Museums – Object of the Year
The theme for the Suffolk Museum Object of the Year award this year is ‘Hidden History‘. The submission from the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum is “The Anderson Shelter“.
The objects submitted this year to the Suffolk Museums represent various hidden stories from military and maritime history, abandoned railway lines, Womens History and objects that when in use were hidden from view or became hidden as conditions around them changed.
The details of our entry are below, and the object itself is located in the Museum behind the shop and is one of our most popular exhibits, particularly on school visits as the children are allowed to sit in the Anderson Shelter and experience the myriad of sound effects associated with an air-raid.
To vote for the Anderson Shelter, please go to the link shown below.
The entry on the Suffolk Museums websites look similar to this image:
Scroll down until you get to the section entitled “Which is your favourite hidden history museum object?” and click on the “WWII Wartime Anderson Shelter”
Scroll down again until you see the “VOTE NOW” banner and click on it to register your vote.
Thank you for casting a vote, which you can do at https://suffolkmuseums.org/museum-object-of-the-year/
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The Anderson Shelter
During World War II Anderson Shelters were installed in most gardens in the UK and throughout East Anglia. They helped save many lives by protecting people from bomb blasts.
Our Anderson Shelter was dug out from the garden of No 8 Starling Road, Norwich in late 2003 and given to the Museum. Only the interior was added later by the Museum Staff, and is built to scale to illustrates how they were made and constructed. However, it is the interactive element of this exhibit which visitors find truly inspiring.
Children are able to crowd into the tiny space inside the shelter in semi-darkness sitting on a bench across the shelter from a bunk bed that is hardly big enough for two and hear that in the wartime, families of four, five or six shared the cramped space. Then when the sounds of an air raid are played, they start to get an impression of what it was like for children of their age during World War II.
It’s a powerful way to help educate children living in a technological age. We have many repeat visits to our Anderson Shelter which shows it does grab the children’s attention and encourages engaging and interactive learning.
One such experience was described by a parent and sent to the Museum:
“It’s a wonderfully educational exhibit, and we visited the museum just as the boys were learning about WWII at school. So it was very timely.
To be able to sit in the replica Anderson shelter was a fantastic experience for them and this was further enhanced by the background music and the air raid sirens.
It was an eerie experience and really gave them an insight into the size of a shelter, which before they had only seen in books.
Listening to the sirens and bombs overhead was really profound and moving and brought learning to life in a way that’s not always possible in a classroom environment.
Thank you for giving the boys such a wonderful and interactive learning experience. They talked about it for days afterwards so I know it sparked their imaginations and gave them an empathy for what it was like for children during the war.
As a parent, I really enjoyed the experience too and I wish to thank the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation museum for giving us this unique opportunity and insight into history. “
To vote for the Anderson Shelter please go to the https://suffolkmuseums.org/museum-object-of-the-year/ website.
Scroll down until you get to the section entitled “Which is your favourite hidden history museum object?” and click on the “WWII Wartime Anderson Shelter”
Scroll down again until you see the “VOTE NOW” banner and click on it to register your vote.
Thank you for casting a vote
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