Medals and memorabilia belonging to a significant First World War soldier will go on display at the York and Lancaster Regimental Museum next year.
Captain Vivian Sumner Simpson was one of the first recruits to join the new 12th (Sheffield) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, at the outbreak of the First World War.
The new collection contains medals including the Military Cross awarded to Captain Simpson, along with papers and photos from throughout the First World War, and papers written from Army training camps. It also contains letters written from the trenches of the Western Front, as well as information on Captain Simpson’s time playing for Sheffield Wednesday as their last amateur.
The impressive collection has been purchased by the museum with the aid of grants from the Arts Council England/Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Fund, Western Front Association, Rotherham Military Community Veterans Centre, the Friends of Clifton Park Museum, and the Friends of Rotherham Archives.
Items from the Simpson collection will be the focus of a new display and a series of public events planned for Summer 2016 at the museum. The activities will relate to the battle of the Somme in 1916 and will take place from July onwards.
In the meantime, visitors can view the fascinating range of regimental collections already on display at the York and Lancaster Regimental Museum. Residents can also research their own army ancestors at Rotherham Archives and Local Studies. Both are located within Clifton Park Museum, Clifton Lane, Rotherham.
A café, shop, and pay and display car park are available on site.