ABSTRACT
The National Army Museum in Chelsea, London was delighted, on 25 March 2013, to host the conference ‘The Origins of Small Wars: From Special operations to Ideological Insurgencies’. It was the first time that the Museum had sponsored such an ambitious event, with speakers drawn from France, the United States, Germany, as well as the United Kingdom. The new readiness of the Museum to do so is indicative of the way in which the approach taken to its work has recently changed; a fresh approach which in turn stems from the successful application made by the Museum to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in May 2012 for an initial grant to undertake the complete redevelopment of the site in Chelsea. Assuming that the HLF approves the final plans – and matching funding is raised – the Museum will close in April 2014 for a two-year period to enable its interior to be removed and new galleries installed. The project will cost £22,750,000.
