Category:The Great War (display)

Past Displays and Exhibitions
The Great War, 1914-1918 2014 - 2019 Arch Two
100 Years of Steam Ambulance Station Bleriot to Concorde Britains Floral Garden British Toy Racing Cars Coronation Scot at Brighton Toy and Model Museum Doctor Who Exhibition The Fairground Forts and Castles Hailey Models Hop on a bus Japanese Dolls Leeds Model Company (LMC) Legend of Hornby Models of Yesteryear (display) Napoleonic War dioramas Postal Toys The Smurfs The Spot-On Collection RMS Titanic World War One

This display commemorated World War One, 1914-1918(/1919), known at the time as "The Great War".

The displays featured a range of toys of vehicles current at the time (several by W. Britain), mostly produced while the War was underway, some modular sets by Elastolin illustrating trench warfare, and various memorabilia and ephemera.

Presiding over the display was a contemporary mustachio'ed soft toy of "Old Bill" a cartoon character created by Bruce Bairnsfather during the war. The "Old Bill" character represented an older soldier in the WW1 trenches, most famously pictured shown in a crater with another soldier surrounded by shellfire, saying, "Well if you knows of a better ‘ole, go to it".

The display went on show in 2014 in the Museum's temporary display area (Area 25) to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of WW1, and stayed on display until 10th June 2019. The main War ended by treaty 1918, but some British soldiers remained in combat until 1919