The second half of 2024 was such a busy time for our volunteers… that it was hard to find the time to write up our quarterly reports. Picnics, a festival, renovations, a trip to Poznań, new initiatives, buying equipment… see for yourselves.
Events and cultural activities
We’ll start our summary with the activities most visible to visitors. On 15 August 2024, we supported the museum’s Military Picnic to mark Polish Army Day. As usual, we had a whole host of tasks ahead of us. The most spectacular was the live demonstration of the 2K11 Krug rocket launcher, operated by our tank crewman Piotrek! We also provided security for cavalry riding displays, the movement of military equipment – including the tracked BWP-1 – and a small parade of historical equipment and Polish Army vehicles. In addition, we opened up the interiors of a T-72 tank, a UAZ-469 vehicle, a BTR-152 armoured personnel carrier, a GSP-55 semi-amphibious vehicle and a MiG-21 aircraft. On that day, the model tankodrome came to life once more, where we presented driving, flying and operational miniatures of military equipment, and our activities were rounded off by the field game ‘Communications Headquarters’. All this was done to add variety to the museum event and instil a passion for the subject in the next generations. Such a wide range of activities required good coordination, which was facilitated by Marek’s initiative, through which we acquired 10 walkie-talkies. They enable us to maintain rapid internal contact, as well as with the museum’s management and staff, which is particularly important during museum events where noise and poor mobile reception hinder telephone communication.
In October, an additional event came up… and it was no small affair. The museum secured funding from EU grants under the KPO programme for Culture and organised the Historical Festival – YEAR 1944. Saturday 19 October 2024 was dominated by this event. This time, we mainly provided security for the historical re-enactments and displayed models.
In November, we supported the museum’s celebrations of National Independence Day and the ‘Independence Bike Rally’, co-organised by the museum. We handed out merchandise and vouchers here, and secured the route. In the museum park, we organised a field game called ‘Communications Headquarters’, and Piotrek started up the historic BTR-152 armoured personnel carrier, taking visitors on several rides. On one of these rides, he even transported the Mayor of Zielona Góra and the Deputy Marshal of the Lubuskie Province.
Conservation of exhibits
The third quarter of the year was marked by intensive work on the restoration of the KP-340 field kitchen. The Friends of the Museum Society secured a small grant for its restoration from the FIO-Lokalnie programme. We carried out the work in the welcoming workshop of the Military Technical Heritage Restoration Studio. The kitchen’s hearth itself proved problematic, as it was in a sorry state. Many of its components had to be sketched out and reconstructed. Darek did an extraordinary job here, for which he deserves a huge round of applause. Ultimately, the kitchen is not only intended to please the eye of visitors, but also to be fired up from time to time and used for our activities. Its trial run is still ahead of us.
We also continued work we’d started earlier… amongst other things, we managed to sandblast, paint and assemble the crane for the WPT-34 vehicle; in the UAZ-469, the windscreen wiper motor was repaired and fitted; and we treated the wooden floor of the WPT-34’s cargo bed. What caught the eye most, however, was the painting of the unique SU-152 self-propelled gun. The green zveroboy looks magnificent!
We have also launched two more projects! The first is the restoration and attempt to get the PTS-M amphibious transporter up and running. We have completed an engine test, reconditioned the oil pump, changed the oil and fuel, cleaned the filters, and vacuumed the entire interior of the vehicle. The second is the construction of a replica of the Polish pre-war wz. 34 armoured car. This would be the first vehicle in our museum to reflect the interwar equipment of the Polish Army! We have already managed to acquire components of the powertrain, such as gearboxes and an engine (we will use modern solutions), as well as some running gear components, but we also have the vehicle’s external panels designed and cut to size. We are looking for axles and running gear components from UAZ-469 vehicles.
Our work also involves the systematic maintenance of the heavy military equipment display. During the summer holidays, Kuba and Tomek spent two weeks at the museum. During this time, they washed all the artillery equipment, repainted the boundary posts, and dusted and waxed the vehicles in the exhibition hall. During this period, we also washed the vehicles from the engineering equipment collection. We supported the museum with its autumn tidying-up work and in preparing the exhibits for winter. Here, once again, Piotrek’s help was invaluable; he removed the batteries, drained the water from the cooling systems, and covered the vehicles with tarpaulins (and even managed to get hold of a few new ones himself!).
Implementation of the project “Development of Volunteering at the Lubuskie Military Museum”
In the second half of the year, work also accelerated on tasks arising from the project co-funded by the National Institute of Freedom, which aims to develop our group. Thanks to this, we acquired new equipment, including: an orbital sander, a heavy-duty reel extension lead, an electrical distribution board, a portable workbench and an impact wrench. Health and safety equipment and office supplies were also purchased. On Volunteer Day, the association organised a study trip for us to Poznań – to the Armoured Weapons Museum, where we met its Director, Colonel Tomasz Ogrodniczuk. As well as touring the museum, we were able to learn the secrets of the ‘armoured magicians’, that is, the Poznań volunteers. At the end of the year, we also received beautiful calendars featuring a drawing by Robert M. Jurga of the GSP-55 half-track, the vehicle with which we had become so closely associated during the refurbishment.
As part of the project, we were also able to carry out our own volunteering initiatives. The first of these was the aforementioned acquisition of walkie-talkies. The second project was organising the “Communications Headquarters” field game, for which we designed and purchased gadgets, certificates and game signage. The third initiative was the creation of a changing room for volunteers. As part of this task, we purchased a bench with a coat rack and building materials, and then, thanks to the kindness of the museum management, we refurbished one of the basement rooms, where we will be able to change and leave our belongings. The final initiative is a prelude to our next major project. We have built 50 boxes from OSB boards, in which we will house a huge diorama of the 1944 Normandy landings! If everything goes according to plan, we will present the diorama on 2 May 2025 during the second edition of the Model-Making Picnic in Drzonów!
In accordance with the project requirements, we have recorded our work in the volunteer management system. In total, during 2024, we recorded over 2,250 hours of work there for the finest military museum north of the Alps! It is also worth noting that our efforts were recognised with the ‘Volunteer-Friendly Place’ certificate awarded to the Friends of the LMW Society.
Promoting the museum
We also regularly run campaigns to promote the museum! It was a great adventure for us to take part in the Zielona Góra grape harvest parade, where we proudly promoted the museum whilst driving a vintage UAZ-469 off-road vehicle. We decorated the vehicle with advertising banners and handed out hundreds of leaflets. We supported the promotion of all the museum’s events. One of our more unusual initiatives was assisting with the proofreading of texts for the anniversary publication issued by our association, entitled Forty Reasons to Visit the Lubuskie Military Museum on its 40th Anniversary 1985–2025
Compiled by Błażej Mościpan – Volunteer Coordinator
