"That's the way it goes," museum curator Ross Neale said with a shrug. "You can't force people to come out." 

Neale, who has been the collection's curator since 1979, said visitors from far - Europe, England, Scotland and the U.S. - and near visit the museum for a variety of reasons. And it's seldom boring when there are people in looking a the displays.

While one might expect the most common visitors would be former service people, Neale said that's not the case. 

"Mostly younger people, wanting to know something about something," Neale said about those who come to view the museum. " A lot comes from school, a lot comes from grandchildren looking for information on granddad and they need a regimental number and stuff so they can join the legion. 

"We had the adjutant from GATES in here. And he said, 'My grandfather told me that they had a great big rifle in 1915. And I searched all over Germany,' he said, 'and I come to Brandon and in this little museum on third floor, there's the great big rifle my grandfather told me about.'"

"This old gentleman, Mr. Falconer - he lived in B.C. - he had some Brandon connections," explained Bill Pierson, a museum volunteer. "He made this up there. And each (section) represents one division and these (badges) represent the regiments within that division. 

"(Falconer) wrote George Crowston, our secretary, and wanted to know if we'd accept it. So George said, 'You betcha,' so he drove and brought it down from B.C." 

Neale said the piece is a great jumping off point in talking to young folks about the war. "Every cap badge on there represents 1,000 men," Neale said. "So you can kind of educate the younger people as to that's 1945."

The Museum also boasts uniforms, medals, armaments, competition cups, and "some old spiked helmets form the Prussians," according to Pierson. 

Neale said it's important to hang on to these relics from the past, in order to maintain a tangible connection to what happened during the war years. And he echoed a comment made frequently by veterans - we can't allow future generations to forget the sacrifices made on their behalf. 

"Someday, it'll be in the paper that the last survivor of the First World War passed away today," Neale said quietly. "And there goes just a little bit of history. "We always tell the kids, you enjoy this and you enjoy that. Freedom wasn't paid for by nickels and dollars. It was paid for by people's lives."