Centennial Anniversary 2014

[dycer]

Isn't it great how a brainstorm like this really comes up with ideas that could work!! The street casualties as school projects could certainly be effective! We have a scarecrow trail hjere, and the principle could be easily applied to an educational Great War Trail - not only casualties, but locations and narratives regarding the Red Cross Hospital, local Belgian Refugees location, pow camp less than a mile from town. Great ideas. :thumbsup:

Ponder ponder, mull, mull; chewed cudd etc!

I'll have a fag for you,whilst you deliberate.

George

[geraint]

Just an update.

Following a meeting with County Council boffins today, seems like they wish to work with me and apply these ideas on a cross county level! They will search their museum items, and I'm invited to assist! (Brilliant), and it seems that they are happy to prepare a town exhibition, with school work packs and to allocate both a primary and a KS 3+4 officers to work on the project. Theyare also keen on a town trail based on the Google Earth clicky clicky linky linky thingy which will bring in details of casualties, addresses and other interesting Great War material in town.

I've also contacted the local paper, which was the same local rag as reported the war in 14-18. They are interested in creating a Centennial edition based on the whole war period.

Next week - the Town Council!

[MelPack]

Geraint

That is excellent news!

Please keep us posted on your progress. Your work could provide a model for others to follow.

Mel

[Bardess]

Do you think the local paper would consider a daily snippet of one soldier's life [if one survived throughout the war] perhaps under their banner? Or might that be a project for the schools?

[dycer]

Geraint,

One of my perceived issues, when viewing the modern young's attitude,to modern telephonic advances,which they perceive is a necessity but brings its dangers i.e,photographs and adolescence.(I choose not to have a mobile phone but remember,with pleasure my teenage years )

To my mind,any Historical Town 21st Century Event,must include,for its young,the dangers of modern media, contrasted,with the reality of WW1.

George

[geraint]

Good point George, though it might be a Now and Then situation. Modern media 90 years ago was the cinema - and they were showing violent films back then. The Battle of The Somme was being shown to audiences in Britain whilst the actual battle was still going on.

[geraint]

Met Town Council representatives tonight. They are happy to support a publication of the town's contribution to the war, happy to endorse a centennial town event, and will fund a specific Mametz Wood event, as well as to actively promote the local population to contact me regarding WW1 family repositories and recollections. The Town Council also want a permenant town memorial marking the centennial with something like "Ruthin, at the centennial, acknowledges the sacrifice made by its citizens in the Great war of 1914-18" or words to that effect.

So, both County and Town Councills are happy to develop a centennial remembrance theme, and to finance various aspects.

I've also logged on to the IWM site, and have contacted BBC Wales for TV and radio involvement.

So far, its all going swimmingly easy!

[Andrew Hesketh]

So far, its all going swimmingly easy!

Keep it going mate, you're doing great.

I only wish my town council was awake. Nearly a year ago they floated the idea of adding one or two names to the memorial in time for 2014. I offered my services as I have tons of detail on the men (and quite a few more names worthy of consideration). They responded enthusiastically.

Heard nowt since.

[dycer]

Geraint,

I respond to you late.

But Councillor support and WW1,does not ring true to me.

I have no idea,when the Council Elections are planned,in the 2014-18 period.

But you must separate,to my mind, political gain,from true regard,to your Town's WW1 Citizens efforts and sacrifice.

George

[Chrissyf]

Hello, I am brand new to this forum. I live in Queensland Australia and this topic is right up my alley.

I have started a project here on the Sunshine Coast in south-east Queensland called "Adopt a Digger". It is non-profit and I am running it on a voluntary basis. I have set up a website www.adoptadigger.org and entered into the database the names of all the soldiers and nurses from our region who fought in WW1.

Then I have put out a call to action to the community to "adopt" one (or more) of these diggers, research his military history (the website tells them how to do this) and then upload the information with photos onto that digger's page. This way all the community can be involved, and as ours is very much a tourist destination with a population of mostly retired (but not retiring) immigrants from colder states, it is a great way to bring the public together in a community-minded project.

The aim of the project is that by 2014 all information on "our boys", about 1400 diggers, will be on one database and searchable by anyone - descendants, historians etc. The local schools are coming on board and adopting a digger and researching his war history as a school project.

Other towns and regions are keen to be involved so we are now looking at ways we can expand the project. Some historical societies are adopting their town's diggers, maybe 100 in one mass adoption, and this becomes a great project within the society. It has only been running a couple of months but is having a great response. The local press and TV love it and I'm sure it will grow over time.

This is a project that could be done by any region anywhere in the world. Thought I would share it with you.

Cheers from Sunshine Coast.

Chrissy

www.adoptadigger.org

[geraint]

This sounds like a good idea, but I'm unsure how it would impact in a small town in Wales. What does 'adopt' a digger mean to the individual who does the adopting?

I'm all ears!

[Chrissyf]

This sounds like a good idea, but I'm unsure how it would impact in a small town in Wales. What does 'adopt' a digger mean to the individual who does the adopting?

I'm all ears!

Please check out the website, www.adoptadigger.org It is very self-explanatory.

Basically, I have listed all the diggers from our region onto a database, about 1400 diggers. Then I put out a 'call to action' to general public, descendants, schools, social groups etc. to adopt one (or more) of these diggers. I guide them (through the website) how to research, where all the information is etc, and then they upload all the data they collect (incl photos) onto their digger's page.

By the centenary my intention is that all 1400 diggers will have their info uploaded onto the database, creating a one-stop-shop for WW1 research for diggers of our region.

Local historical societies are adopting "their diggers", maybe 50 at a time. It's going great guns.

[bruce]

Geraint,

I respond to you late.

But Councillor support and WW1,does not ring true to me.

I have no idea,when the Council Elections are planned,in the 2014-18 period.

But you must separate,to my mind, political gain,from true regard,to your Town's WW1 Citizens efforts and sacrifice.

George

Just for once, something I do know a bit about!

Town and Parish Councils as we know them (but not Community Councils in parts of Wales, as they they were set up later) were created by the necessary legislation in 1894. I held out to be the Mayor as the only historian on the Council.

All Parish and Town Councils are up for re=election, en bloc, in May this year. That means that in some places, there are district/borough elections, Town/Parish elections, plus the AV referrendum, all on the same date.

Members of the Town/Parish Councils currently in office may not be re-elected, but whoever is elected in May of this year will be elected for 4 years, and so be in office in 2014.

Although current councillors may be enthusiastic, those elected in May of this year may not be. Conversely, those elected this year may be more enthusiastic than their current counterparts.

Since I may or may not hold my seat in May, I haven't mentioned this to my Town Council, but, should the local electorate give me another (unpaid) four years, then I will certainly propose that my Council marks this anniversary.

Bruce

[Andy Wade]

Four of our local Town councillors have served in the Armed forces, (one of these in WW2!), so there's not only support for doing something but they're already in the RBL and 'onside' so to speak. At least two others have already expressed their support to me privately, so I'm quite encouraged by this.

[David_Underdown]

Members of the Town/Parish Councils currently in office may not be re-elected, but whoever is elected in May of this year will be elected for 4 years, and so be in office in 2014.

I presume you mean "might (or might not) be re-elected" rather than are ineligible for re-election as "may not be re-elected" could be interpreted?

[geraint]

Very valid comments Bruce - and I wish you well in May for the next four years. The problem on this town council is that there hasn't been an elected contest since the 1970s! Those proposed therefore become nonelected councillors and co-opt the remainder to make up the number. We'll see what happens in May.

[Ralphed]

I love the idea of adopt a digger

As schools increasingly visit the Battlefields could they not 'adopt' a cemetary on the western front?

Obviously the schools in the big town's cities would all go for the well known ones that have lots their sons in them who formed the pals battalion's but there are lots of lesser ones that don't get many visitors al all.

Researching the soldiers in a cemetary could get the kids 'involved' and not just be a quick whizz round the major memorials and cemeteries on their trip.

Last year my daughter and i adopted a 'known unto god' in the Australian cemetery in Noreuil. Her GGG Grandfather has no known grave and the one we adopted was only one of 3 or 4 that had that inscription. The other unknown's said an 'unknown Australian soldier of the great war' and i was getting in a bit of panic on the day . The grave is probably a digger but nevertheless it is now part of our family.

We are going back in August to re-dedicate that grave by putting a new picture of him and wreath on the plot. Having done a bit more research i now have another candidate cemetary where he could be buried. If he was buried at all.

This time my wife is going as well and (she don't know it yet) is going to adopt a 'known unto god' at Vraucopse cemetery. We only have three picture of him ,one in civvies and two in uniform so the two apoted graves will have two different picture's that will hopefully interest visitor's to the cemeteries. Even if they only pause for a short while,they may go on to 'adopt' another grave in a quiet part of the western front to show that the unknowns are not forgotten.

I have yet to 'adopt' a grave from my side of the family. Although my Grandfather did serve he would have only seen the very end of the war as he was born in 1900. His older brother served for most of it, both in the Royal artillery and thankfully both survived. I've checked the CWGC register and their are two casualties with my surname but i don't know if they are relatives. One has a grave and one doesn't. We visited both last year as part of our trip and left memorial crosses. So as and when i find out if we are related or not i will 'adopt' a plot somewhere for the one who no known grave.

[geraint]

Have just been informed that the Town Council wishes to send me on a sponsored research week to the Imperial War Museum! Sounds brilliant! Further details to follow!

[Andy Wade]

I'm addressing our Town Council in a week, so hopefully we'll see what they intend to make of the centenary.

[geraint]

Andy

I found that they appreciated being 'pushed' in that direction by an enthusiastic local historian (me!!), and they responded well. If you highlight the sacrifices made by all townsfolk during the war they may well respond far more than you anticipate!

[Andy Wade]

Andy

I found that they appreciated being 'pushed' in that direction by an enthusiastic local historian (me!!), and they responded well. If you highlight the sacrifices made by all townsfolk during the war they may well respond far more than you anticipate!

Yes, that's the direction I want to take it in, so that each councillor can look at their own constituency and encourage their own area to contribute and even take part if they wish.

This is a rough draft of what I'll be saying to them this Thursday:

The Men of Worth project

We are a group of about a dozen local people who do both individual research and group research to create biographies of the men and women of Keighley and the Worth Valley who served the country during wartime.

We put on displays highlighting our work and encourage people to bring information on their relatives for the project. The project covers from the Boer War period up to the present day, subject to data protection constraints where those persons are still living. Anyone who was born or has lived in the area is eligible for inclusion and we would rather include than exclude someone who is ‘borderline’.

The project started in 2005, from a desire of mine to research the names on Oakworth’s war memorial, but soon spread to cover nearby memorials simply because people moved about and may have been born in Oakworth but moved to Ingrow or vice versa. The lines become somewhat blurred when researching people. What started as a hobby has become a serious historical research project. We have some information online on a free website, but most of it is contained on our computers, ready for upload when the new database is compiled. We have no idea when the project will be completed as we hope people will continue to bring information forward for many years to come.

2014 - Preparation for the commemoration of the centenary of World War One.

The project is a member of the First World War Centenary Partnership with the Imperial War Museum who are leading the nation’s commemorations, and any events we take part in will be promoted by the Partnership.

What Men of Worth intends to do come the 2014 to 2018 period:

• Put on a series of display/exhibitions both in Keighley and local villages to show details of the local men and women who served. Not just names on war memorials but those who served and returned.
• Support local and schools events with information about those who served.
• We also intend to give more talks to local interest groups and schools to promote the project and engender interest from local people and schoolchildren to research their relatives and other local people who qualify for inclusion to the project.
• Involve the Keighley News – this newspaper was the main source of information 1914 to 1918 and we feel it should be the same from 2014 to 2018. We have yet to approach them about this, but they are aware of our project and have kindly supported us in the past with reports of events and biographies of selected individuals in the newspaper.
• Produce information that will map Keighley and District's part in the war, by street and by area as information allows.

What do we want from council?

We hope that council could add their support to the project, not necessarily through funding (although that would of course be appreciated), but if individual councillors would like to promote our work with their own constituents who might have an interest then we would be glad of the publicity. We feel that the project is the best chance for us to record all the information on the subject, all in one place and available worldwide through the website as well as in the local libraries and schools.

What will Council do in 2014?

We hope that Council would join in with and support any local events and take an active part in remembering the thousands of young men who marched off down Cavendish Street to Keighley Railway Station to fight in the Great War, quite a lot of whom did not return. This is an excellent opportunity for us to educate people and mark our own contribution to the Great War which began in August 1914.

Keighley’s first man killed was Private Thomas Shellabear of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. He was from Ingrow, and was killed in action on 24^th August 1914. Hundreds more followed him over the next four years.

[geraint]

That sounds excellent. Best wishes for both you and your peroration!

[Andy Wade]

Great reception last night after my address to Keighley Town Council. And quite a few weren't aware of the centenary coming up in 2014.

Three councillors came up to speak to me after the meeting about me giving some talks (one of them is Chairman of the local branch of the Royal British Legion), and there's a great possibility to get some volunteers interested in working on the project. It's looking very positive as the councillor in question works for a local voluntary service and he says they have many candidates who have the skills and the time to upload information to the database. He said they have over 2000 people coming through their doors each year looking for voluntary work and projects to get involved in, so he was very upbeat about the whole thing. We might be able to get funding to train people up in doing the work too. All in all, a fantastic result!

[geraint]

Well done Andy! Keep up the pressure on those key members - an excellent result lad!

[Andy Wade]

Way Hey! I've just had two articles about the project, published in two separate local newspapers, each one is publicising both the Men of Worth Project and the 2014 Centenary.

And best of all, a local man has also just contacted me with an offer to loan the project two original trench maps, an original officers trench whistle and several other badges and items from a relative's personal effects that he inherited! We will be able to use them in the main exhibition in 2014!

Back of the net! I must remember to print off more business cards for the project tonight to pass around tomorrow... It's all coming together now.