The Hull People's Memorial Museum
Located in the heart of Kingston upon Hull's historic Whitefriargate (locally pronounced White-fra-gate), The Hull People's Memorial Museum is the only dedicated museum of The People and The City at war. During both World Wars Kingston upon Hull was the second most heavily bombed place in the United Kingdom. In fact, during World War Two, Hull suffered more devastation and more death per head of populace that any other place in the whole of The UK. Surprised? So are many others too. Due to the massive blanket of security thrown over The City during both world wars, even today there is still a lot of discoveries to be made about Hull's wartime experience and many of these remain securely locked away behind closed doors in the UK's military and parliamentary archives.
Did you know that the very first enemy bombs to fall on mainland Britain fell on Hull's Saltend Works? No? Then you probably will not realise that the last manned enemy air-raid of WWII was also suffered by the people of Kingston upon Hull. In fact, the very first target of the Zeppelins of World War One was also Kingston upon Hull but, fortunately for The City, they got lost and ended up dropping their bombs on the towns and villages of The Wash.
When you visit The Hull People's Memorial Museum you will be able to see examples of the bombs which fell on The City and examine our collection of images while reading the stories of some of those who lived through it all. We would also strongly recommend that you bring your camera with you as we welcome you take take photograph of our collection - unlike most museums. You will be able to handle artefacts, munitions and weapons from both world wars including our Lee Enfield .303 SMLE rifles, our AK47, our 1942 Bren Gun and lots more besides. The children (from 3 to 103) might also like to put on one of our genuine uniforms and helmets as they pose for the camera.
If you would like to discover a little more about your own family's experience of war while serving with the armed forces, our research team may just be able to help you, wherever you call home. This is a free service although we do charge a small fee for printouts (currently 50p for monochrome and £1.00 for colour, per page) and we invite you to make a donation towards the Hull People's Memorial Fund.
We do need your donations as we are completely independent and manned entirely by volunteers. No one at The Hull People's Memorial receives any form of payment or expenses (although we do provide a free cup of tea from time to time). 100% of all donations - without any form of deduction - are paid directly into the Hull People's Memorial Fund. Our running costs are paid for directly from the sales in our small gift shop with the cost of renting our premises being massively sponsored by The Brethren of the Hull Trinity House Charity, without which we simply could not afford to be where we are.
Our primary goal, to raise The Hull People's Memorial in honour of the people of our city who lived through the devastation which World Wars I and II brought to our city, has now been achieved. The People's Memorial (so called as it has been designed and funded by The People) bears the names of all who lost their lives during, or as a direct consequence of, the air raids on our Great City. The memorial is located on Paragon Street, opposite The Hull Cheese public house.
Wondering about the name 'Hull Cheese'? Drop in for a visit and ask one of our team. They will also point out Europe's Smallest Window and a whole lot more for you to enjoy during your visit to our city.
We are proud to welcome visitors from all over the world and hope that you too will drop in for a look around and a chat with our team. Just have a look at our reviews on TripAdvisor to see what others have said about The Hull People's Memorial Museum.
Alan Brigham
Chair
Hull Remembers - The Hull People's Memorial is a UK registered charity No 1146942.
Kingston upon Hull is a city by Royal Charter, but no one knows for sure the origins of our 'three crowns' logo. (used with the kind permission of HCC Civic Office.)
Welcome to Kingston upon Hull. A view of the old dock office, now a Maritime Museum, as seen from the Queen's Gardens Rose Bowl Fountain.
An exterior view of our old Museum, early one evening as one of our City Centre tours sets off to discover the Old Town.
A thank you gift from one of our visitors who served with the Land Army.
Our free research help desk is always very popular vith visitors from all over the world.
We have been able to help dozens of veterans and their relatives to claim their World War Two medal entitlement. This collection includes (left to right) the 1939/45 Star, the Atlantic Star, the Arctic Star (in its presentation box) and the British War Medal (1939-45).
It has also been our great pleasure to return a great many medals to the family of the rightful owner. This collection belonged to a soldier who served with the Durham Light Infantry and the East Yorkshire Regiment. Left to right we can see the Military Medal, The Territorial Long Service & Good Conduct medal followed by the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory medal (also known as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred). They are now proudly displayed in the family home.
If you need to known anything about touring the battlefields of France and Flanders, or the railways tracks of the UK, talk to Brian. Do not, however, ask him about the one that got away!
When the bombs fell on the city, if you couldn't make it to a shelter hiding under the stairs was often a safe bet.
Admiral of The Humber and Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull (2013-14) Councillor Anita Harrison, with a Guard of Honour made up of two of our younger volunteers, Ryan (left) and Daniel (right).
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