The Donnington Historic Weapons Collection

This collection is one of the finest firearm collections in the country, assembled by MOD Donnington in the second half of the 20^th century.

MOD Donnington is the main weapons storage and distribution centre for the British armed forces. All used firearms are returned to the centre where they are assessed and either refurbished, sold or scrapped.

Huge numbers of weapons have been processed; including those kept by regiments as souvenirs of famous actions and captured foreign weapons. The staff at Donnington, realising the rarity and importance of many of these weapons retained them and created a museum within the centre.

The general public has never had access to the museum. However in 2010, under direction from Kevan Jones MP, The Under Secretary of State for Defence; the collection was gifted to the Combined Military Services Museum for public display.

The Donnington collection is a unique collection of weapons used and captured by the British Army during the late 19^th and 20^th Century which builds a picture of the operations and experiences of the army that is not available throughout the museum service.

The Collection will open to the public on 1^st April 2010

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