The Wartime Memories Project

- The Great War - Life on The Home Front -


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Life on the Home Front Archive.

To commemorate the Centenary of the Great War, the 'Life on the Home Front Archive' aims to create an online interactive archive to allow everyone to learn more about the effect of the Great War on their own families and community. This initiative has been made possible by the generous support of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
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The Life on the Home Front Archive aims to build a comprehensive collection to allow everyone to learn about items they may have at home dating from this important period in history.

We would like to include copies of any Great War related items you may have in your possession, these include; photographs of memorabilia, copies of documents, newspaper clippings, postcards, photographs, letters and other ephemera. By adding to this interactive archive, you will be helping to build a picture of the dramatic changes to life in Britain brought about by the Great War of 1914 - 1918. If you are able to provide any additional information on any of the items in the archive or the supporting webpages, please contribute what you know as this will help generate a better understanding of them and help everyone to learn more about their own families and communities in during the Great War.

All the items in this archive have been submitted by members of the public.

This section is no longer accepting new submissions.

Please add your information to our main database.









We would like to hear from anyone who has a collection of letters, postcards, scrapbooks, autograph books, sketches, documents or other ephemera. This project aims to help everyone to find out more about items they own and to share that knowledge with others. Please tell us about your items.

We are also looking for volunteers to help with the project, if you would like to join our volunteers group, please see our Volunteers Page. We are particularly looking for people with an interest in researching the Territorial Force in Britain, the formation and training of Kitchener's New Armies, the training camps and the contribution of Voluntary Organisations on the Home Front.



The committee of The Wartime Memories Project are pleased to make the following announcements:

29th Jan 2014

News Release: Life on the Home Front

To mark the Centenary of the First World War, The Wartime Memories Project, is launching its new initiative 'Life on the Home Front'. Funded through a £33,800 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, the project will create an online interactive archive which will allow everyone to share digital copies of memorabilia and artefacts they have at home, dating from this important period in history. The online collection will shed light on the affect the conflict had on the local community.

Items sought for the archive include diaries, documents, newspaper clippings, postcards, photographs, letters and other ephemera. Visitors to the site will also be able to contribute extra information about the objects displayed and help build a picture of life in Britain 100 years ago and the dramatic changes brought about by the War.

The group, is pleased with the response of the public so far: "During the testing phase, we have been sent a few items for inclusion. Amongst those items we've already received is a wonderfully detailed diary covering the day-to-day experiences of a married soldier, from the day he enlisted to his medical discharge after a lengthy stay in hospital as a result of wounds received in action. His family are very proud to share his story via our project and we hope others will be as enthusiastic in sharing their family experiences."

Ivor Crowther, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund North East, said: "We all know about the major battles that formed such a devastating part of the First World War but often it's easy to overlook the individual stories of the men and women who sacrificed so much. By collecting and digitising people's personal family artefacts, including amazing pieces such as the soldier's diary, we are able to get a real insight into what wartime life was like. We are committed to helping local people share their stories and we have already invested more than £45million in projects, large and small, that are marking the Centenary.


24th Jan 2014

The new "Life on the Home Front" section of our website is now ready for launch, we may experience a few teething troubles, if you get any error messages, or find a page which is not showing correctly, please do let us know so that corrections can be made. The community archive and supporting pages are a living project so new additions will be made as the project progresses.

4th August 2013

Ninety Nine Years ago today Britain declared war on Germany. With one year to go until the centenary of the start of the conflict, our project is nearing the beta testing stage. If you would like to help with testing this new section of our website please complete the form above.



26th February 2013

Today, The Wartime Memories Project in Stockton-on-Tees has received £33,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project, 'Life on the Home Front'.

To mark the centenary of the First World War in 2014, the group are aiming to preserve the memories and heritage of the people who lived through the War. Volunteers will collect photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, letters and photos of keepsakes, as well as family tales passed down from the Great War generation to help them build a clear picture of what life was really like in Britain.

These stories, if left unrecorded may be lost forever. Some of the stories that will be researched, include the setting up of voluntary hospitals, training of nursing staff, recruitment into Kitchener's army, women and children's contribution to the war effort, the role of the fishing fleets, coastal defence and enemy action such as Zeppelin raids.

With help from professionals they will digitally record the information to create an on-line interactive archive, where everyone can access and contribute to the information gathered. The archive will allow the public to discuss, contribute, share and research information about the Home Front across Britain during the Great War.

The Secretary of The Wartime Memories Project, said: "We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and are confident the project will generate a lot of interest and help many people to discover more about their own heritage through researching their family stories and memorabilia passed down to them. By running this project online we hope to reach a wide audience and create a lasting resource which will allow others to benefit now and in the future."

Explaining the importance of the support, Head of the HLF in the North East Ivor Crowther, said: "These inspiring project plans are a fitting way to help mark the planned First World War commemorations that will be starting to happen across the UK and we are proud to be playing a role as a funder. The 'Great War' was an extraordinary turning point in our history and by collecting photographs of these artefacts and memories and making them digitally available, everyone today and in the future, will be able to learn about and remember the sacrifices that were made by ordinary people 100 years ago."

The project intends to launch the archive and accompanying new section of their website later this year.

Heritage Lottery Fund





Please note this funding is ring fenced for "Life on the Home Front", our main website and activities will continue to be funded by donations and advertising revenue. Continued support from visitors is vital to ensure the future of our website.








The 'Life on the Home Front' section of our website has been made possible by the generous support of the Heritage Lottery Fund.    
Heritage Lottery Fund Logo   


Please note this funding is ring fenced for "Life on the Home Front", our main website and activities will continue to be funded by donations and advertising revenue. Continued support from visitors is vital to ensure the future of our website.

The Wartime Memories Project is a non profit organisation run by volunteers.

The main sections of our website are paid for out of our own pockets and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources.

If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.


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