Royal Engineers Museum The Royal Engineers Museum , Library & Archive is a military engineering museum and library in Gillingham , Medway , South East England . It tells the story of the Corps of Royal Engineers and British military engineering in general . History . The School of Military Engineering and the Museum were founded in 1812 , during the Peninsular War . The Library was founded in 1813 . The Museum moved to its current site in the Ravelin building in 1987 . Its collection received ' Designated ' status in 1998 ( it is recognised as having an outstanding collection of national and international significance ) . It is one of only three military or regimental museums in the country to hold this status . Collections . The RE Museum and Library hold over 500 , 000 objects relating to the history of the Corps of Royal Engineers and the development of military engineering . On display are objects of great significance like the Waterloo map , complete with markings made by Wellington himself . It has the revolver used by Lieutenant Chard at Rorke ' s Drift , Russian glass grenades from the Crimea , and a huge selection of objects belonging to Charles Gordon relating to his postings in China and the Sudan . There is a relic of the Kashmir Gate and a set of armour reported to belong to the Last King of the Punjab , Duleep Sing . There is a Brennan Torpedo on display alongside an early prototype . The museum also has one of the largest public collections of orders , awards and medals in the country ; most of which are on display , including 25 of the 55 Victoria Crosses awarded to REs , and three George Crosses . The collection and museum galleries tell the story of the Corps and cover topics such as : Aeronautics ( the Corps was responsible for this prior to the formation of the RFC and RAF ) Bomb Disposal , Bridging - the Bailey and other examples . Camouflage , Civil works ( Pentonville Prison & the Royal Albert Hall are examples of RE engineering ) Submarine Mining & Diving , Electrical ( Searchlights ) , Forestry , Field ( or Combat ) Engineering ( airborne , amphibious , armoured , commando , Queen ' s Gurkha , tunnelling ) , Gas Warfare , Military Works - mining , water supply , roads , airfields , canals , Photography including early aerial photographs and trench layouts , Postal & Courier , Quarrying , Royal Engineers Band , Survey ( e . g . Canada , Great Britain & India ) Telegraph and Signals , Transportation ( Railways , Ports ) . Maps & Plans of places the Corps have been or built . It has many prototype armoured vehicles , both inside the museum , in the grounds and within Chatham Dockyard . Also inside the museum is a complete Harrier Jump - Jet . Currently the Library is situated on the Military Camp behind the museum building , but developments are proposed to bring this historic collection into the main building , where it will be stored in its very own purposed built area , a project expected to cost well over three million pounds . The Bridge Study Centre , a purpose built display space , houses a huge collection of bridging models . This includes some very early Victorian teaching models and also numerous associated objects , photographs and archives .