IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM :2003-2009:A conspiracy;the facts.

Dear Sir or Madam,

The substance of this case have been recorded in previous posts on
this website. The object, a Goetz first issue Lusitania medallion
in iron was a family heirloom that had been in the possession of
two previous generations of my family. It belonged to my father. It
was taken in 1968 by an act of deception and never returned. The PA
involved, the Imperial War Museum have by their actions been far
from exemplary. Numerous contradictions and factual errors during
this investigation would not and could not be explained by the IWM
senior executive, Director General (DG) ,Sir Robert Crawford. As a
result, details of the case were forwarded to the Prime Minister.
Trustees nominated for the IWM Board have to be approved by number
10. An 87 page, bound, REPLY document (January 2008) forwarded to
no 10,with correspondence dated 6 February 2008,was received but
somehow got misplaced. A further copy of the REPLY document was
forwarded and acknowledged by Ms E. Foxell of the DCMS on 26
November 2008. The DCMS, delegated responsibility for this case by
no 10,have despite requests on this website for disclosure,
remained impassive. There is a saying: A picture paints a thousand
words. Photographs supplied by the IWM DG as evidence on 20 August
2004 were used by my family to establish a chain of evidence.
Evidence that clearly indicated that the IWM were complicit. The
images supplied by the DG are numbered by the IWM photographic
archives as photographs HU 74 866/7.They are included as evidence
in the REPLY document and include enlarged sections in photographs
5 ; 8 and 9. These photographs are undoubtedly of a chipped,
damaged and defaced medallion. An expert scholar on this subject Mr
G. Burns when shown the two original IWM photographs stated that
the “patination looks very unusual” (4 Jan 2007). Mr Burns also in
observations passed to me on 20 January 2007 says “ someone may
have tried to improve Goetz’ original treatment with the downgraded
results you note”. Two IWM Trustees at the request of Board
Chairman Sir Peter Squire reviewed the evidence regarding this
Lusitania medallion but failed to provide any photographic images
to justify their conclusions. This was a serious flaw in their
REVIEW document (Nov 2007). Further errors by the two IWM Trustees
in their REVIEW were the omission of a number of crucial letters.
These included the DG’ s letter to me of 10 June 2004, family
testimonials supplied for the IWM Board of 5 Jan 2004 and a DCMS
letter from E. Foxell to me dated 30 March 2007.The exclusion of
such evidence in the REVIEW (Nov 2007) by the two IWM Trustees is
tantamount to destroying my family’s case in it’s entirety. The
Trustees also failed to take into consideration the fact that the
IWM had supplied incorrect disclosures and that one vital
disclosure had been withheld by the IWM for over 18 months. During
this 18 month period the IWM used the time to alter the provenance
of the medallion ,yet again. This was the third provenance supplied
by the IWM for this medallion. This unprecedented alteration defied
belief. A bronze propaganda copy was transformed into a Goetz iron
original. Such changes made a mockery of any review process. The
course that this institute, the Imperial War Museum has steered
since 2003 is fraught with danger. Never did the Museum contemplate
the eventuality of moral justice being a conclusion. On the
contrary, the decisions taken by the IWM senior executive Sir
Robert Crawford were concerned solely with the use of the law to
maintain the integrity of a collection. A collection held tenuously
by the IWM. The case for moral restitution was never considered.
Not even for a brief moment. I would ask the Prime Minister’s
Office and the DCMS to consider the serious implications of this
complaint. Principles regarding our Museum Services, their Public
Appeals Procedures and the supplying of corrupted disclosures are
called into question. Under the Act I request disclosure on this
public site by the DCMS of their role and their findings. We have
never wavered in our resolve and our determination to get to the
truth regarding this, our father’s medallion. If this is in the
public domain, so be it.

Yours faithfully,

Robert G.Wright.