In 2015, the REME Museum of Technology closed its doors to the public. Over several months, staff and volunteers packed over 100,000 collection items along with packing up offices and furniture.

This was an exciting time for the Museum – a chance to reorganise our collection stores, redesign our displays and set new challenging targets for our future in Lyneham.

Saying goodbye

The Museum had its last open day at Arborfield on Saturday 25 April 2015 – ‘The Last Big Bash’. There was something for everyone, even if there were over 2000 visitors!

From a hog roast and the delicious cakes of the Arborfield and Newlands Women’s Institute, to a variety of activities including face painting, challenge the goalie, minefield challenge and the ever-popular assault course. On display were historic and modern vehicles, as well as information on the upcoming move and the designs so far for the new museum. Performances by the Military Wives group and displays by the Royal British Legion helped to make the day extra special.

A big thank you goes to all those from 11 Training Battalion and the REME Recruitment team who helped run the stalls and activities, even helping with face painting and transforming children into cats, dogs and various superheroes.

On Sunday 14 June, the final REME Freedom of Wokingham Parade took place*. REME were granted the Freedom of Wokingham in 1978 and a parade has been held on a number of occasions. There was a fantastic turn out from the local community and a great display by REME.

On 1 July, the Arborfield Garrison Staff Garden Party was held as a final thank you to all staff who have worked at Arborfield over the years. It was a great afternoon, helped by being one of the warmest days of the year. Though those who were playing cricket might not agree with that! There was also a great display by the REME Parachute Team.

*REME have since returned for a Freedom of Wokingham Parade in October 2025.

Packing up

In May, volunteer training began, looking at how to handle objects safely and what materials to use to pack items. The Museum uses archive quality material which means that items will stay safe and be preserved for much longer. No sticky tape or blue tack to be seen anywhere and we provide everyone with gloves – for their own protection as much as the objects.

Volunteers had the chance to find out about damage that can be done by various pests and how to identify them, as well as the chance to handle, research and pack historic items of importance to the REME Corps.

The contracted movers came in to do a final assessment, after which the museum team began taking the displays apart.

By August, we had over 5000 objects packed and the museum began to fill up with boxes and empty cases. Information panels came down and our old display items, such as mannequins, found new homes in other museums.

The dioramas surrounding the vehicles in the Prince Philip Vehicle Hall were dismantled with sand, gravel and rocks being moved outside.

By September, almost the entire museum had been dismantled. Store rooms and display areas were emptied; boxes stacked on pallets and ready to move.

Boxes packed up ready to be moved across to the new site.

Initial packing was carried out by museum staff and volunteers, but the larger and more awkward displays required professional help to dismantle and pack appropriately. Staff from Specialist Packers started working at the museum to help us deal with items such as missiles and mannequins.

The move begins

Some of our items moved ahead and were already waiting in Lyneham. One of the larger items was our Scout helicopter, the move of which wouldn’t have been possible without the help of REME Recovery Mechanics, members of the Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron (JARTS) and Babcock Technicians. The move of the Scout took a whole day, starting with it being brought down from the plinth, then wheeled up a road with a police escort and finally put onto a low loader for transfer to Lyneham.

The Scout helicopter being lifted off its plinth.

The Scout being lifted onto the low loader for transport.

Vehicles moved first from Arborfield and Bordon into our new storage hangar in Lyneham. The last to move were those vehicles going on display in the new museum as, due to their size, we needed to move them in before the cases, panels and other display items. This meant a lot of help from the Recovery Mechanics and an external company, Metcalf Farms, to help get the vehicles in the right position. After all, we didn’t just want to move our Churchill ARV in to the hall, we then needed to rotate it 90 degrees without damaging the floor at all - simple!

We also moved across larger items like the Woolwich Bell Tower. Despite it being an incredibly foggy day, which brought London airports to a standstill, the work took place to lift up the tower from its base. What originally seemed like a straightforward task quickly presented its own problems. We had originally thought that the tower was in a temporary base from which it could be lifted out. However, two hours later it became obvious that the tower was firmly in place. Alistair, of Creative Timberwork, happened to be passing by. Alistair had lived in the married quarters on the Garrison and learnt to ride at the Arborfield Stables. He was keen to lend a hand and came back with a car-load of tools. Unfortunately, the bell tower still wouldn’t move.

Getting dark, Woolwich Bell Tower had to be cut at the base allowing it to finally be freed.

The rest of the collections then started to be moved across with staff following behind. For a time, the Museum operated from the two sites.

The former Trades display area at Arborfield.

The empty Prince Phillip Vehicle Hall.

On 27 November 2015, the museum building was officially handed over and the ‘REME Museum of Technology’ in Arborfield came to an end. We then began a new stage in our history as the ‘REME Museum’.