FOR the first time in almost 150 years, Russian hands have once again handled drums that were captured during the Crimean War.

The drums of the Russian Borodino Regiment were captured by soldiers of The Green Howards after the Battle of the Alma in 1854.

Two of the seven drums taken on the battlefield are on display at the regiment's museum in Richmond, where Russian Army officer Major Alexander Gusev made a little piece of history.

The visit of Maj Gusev, from St Petersburg, was arranged for him and his wife, Anela, as a 50th birthday surprise by their daughter Katia and her husband Richard Dye, who live in Darlington.

Museum curator Major Roger Chapman, took the family on a tour and showed them the Russian equipment captured by The Green Howards after the Battle of the Alma.

As well as the drums, Maj Gusev handled a Russian musket and saw Russian helmets and helmet plates, as well as photographs of the Crimea.

Maj Chapman said: "It was a pleasure to welcome a Russian Army major and his family to The Green Howards Museum."

The Battle of the Alma was the regiment's first battle honour. The other five captured drums are on display in the officers' mess of the 1st Battalion wherever they are stationed - currently in Northern Ireland.

Each year, on the anniversary of the Battle of the Alma in September, they are paraded through the ranks of the battalion, wreathed in laurel.