Trunk

This travelling trunk belonged to an officer in the British Army. Many London trunk makers specialised in military campaign furniture and luggage. An officer would use a trunk like this to store his personal possessions at the Army's base camp. The amount of luggage taken abroad on a campaign would usually depend on a person's rank and social status.

The lid features the letters 'GR' beneath a crown and the year 1742. Trunks of this type were typically decorated with designs made using nails. The sentence 'For His Britannic Majesty's Camp' has been painted on the front. The trunk is thought to have been used in the British camp at the Battle of Dettingen during the War of the Austrian Succession. At the battle a combined force of the British, Hanoverians and Hessians defeated the French in Bavaria on June 27th 1743. George II became the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle at Dettingen.