Talk - World War I by Pam Cook (Worksop)

The next Priories Historical Society meeting is on Thursday March 6th  2014 at the BCVS, next to Worksop Priory on Priorswell Road, Worksop starting at 7.30pm

Pam Cook gives a talk on World War I and looking for the story of her ancestors

Hope to see you there.

Event - Dungworth Local History Project

Local History Project Inaugural meeting Wednesday, 14 November 2012 2pm at Dungworth Village Hall

If you are interested in local history and would like to help commemorate the centenary of the First World War, or find out more about the lives of local people during this or any time, please come along to the meeting or telephone 2341243 for further information.

We can obtain a grant to help us.

We can do any or all of the following:-

Set up a ‘heritage group’ to begin research into local and or ‘family’ history, identify previous occupants of houses, take trips to the Sheffield Archives to look at records such as school log books, or collect photographs or other memorabilia. We could add information to the previous Dungworth ‘Walk into History’ book and get this re-published or updated. We could focus on the lives of people in this area during the war to find out how they contributed to the war effort through the ‘home front’ and their protected occupations, rather than fighting overseas, involving and passing on memories to children to help them

learn about life in the village up until and during WWI.

Via SCHF

News - Impact of war on village life (Flintham)

A Heritage Lottery grant of £16,710 has been awarded to Flintham Society for a project looking at the impact of the first world war on life in the village.


Mrs Sue Clayton, secretary of Flintham Society, which is undertaking a project about the first world war.Keeping the Home Fires Burning? will look at agriculture, social life, education, employment, religion, the village economy, housing and health, population and migration, and gender issues.

It will focus mainly on those left behind while the men went to fight in France, looking at women, children and older residents and how their lives, and the village, changed.

The head of Heritage Lottery Fund East Midlands, Emma Sayer, said: “As we approach the centenary of the outbreak of the first world war many people will want to learn more about the individual stories that will make this world-shattering event relevant on a personal level.

“The emphasis on the families left behind will quite literally bring the conflict home to people.”

The project will look at how agricultural, social and cultural rhythms of life were disrupted; how women took over traditional male roles; how education was affected and whether employment patterns changed.

It will investigate how people’s eating and shopping habits changed.

It will build on material already held at Flintham Museum.

School log books, church documents, newspapers and resources kept by the University of Nottingham Manuscript Department, as well as external resources such as the 1911 census, the 1910 Land Tax Survey and the National Archives at Kew will be used.

The findings will be put on the museum website and a dedicated blog. The project will end with an exhibition at the village hall.

The grant will allow basic conservation of archives housed in outbuildings at Flintham Hall, which are at risk of deterioration.

Young people taking their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award will receive database training so the museum card catalogue can be computerised.

Mrs Sue Clayton, secretary of Flintham Society, said many people were skilled in researching their own family history but tended to work in isolation.

She said: “Our project aims to utilise those skills and apply them to the more communal activity of researching the village history. This will inspire us to use the material in different ways and also bring people together.”

From: http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Impact-of-war-on-village-life

News - Cash boost for Brodsworth war research

A COUNTRY house in Doncaster has secured a grant worth nearly £100,000 which will help research for a wartime project.


The English Heritage has announced that following the £99,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, it will go towards a three year project examining the role that Brodsworth Hall played in the two World Wars.

Research is now underway and examining the social history of how Brodsworth Hall, and the people living in and around its estate, were affected by the wars.

The research will provide the basis for public displays within the Hall, its owners and staff during these years of conflict.

The project will also enable stories from the period to be explored and shared within the community, through a digital display developed with the involvement of local groups and children.

The first stage of the project, which will launch at Easter 2013, will be a trail throughout the Hall and events focussing on life during World War II.

An exhibition about World War I and the community’s support for those serving in both wars will launch at the same time, with events surrounding this to follow in 2014 to coincide with the centenary of the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

English Heritage intends to hold a series of reminiscence sessions over the autumn to gather such stories and record peoples’ memories, and David Alcock of Heritage Learning will be arranging these.

Anyone with stories relating to Brodsworth during either World War should contact David on brodsworthwar@english-heritage.org.uk or 01482 318961.

Alternatively contact Caroline and staff at Brodsworth Hall at Brodsworth Hall, Donaster, DN5 7XJ, or ring 01302 722598.

The Brodsworth Hall ‘In Time of War’ project is part of a series of independent exhibitions taking place at country houses throughout the region in 2013-14, co-ordinated by the Yorkshire Country House Partnership.

From: http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/community/cash-boost-for-brodsworth-war-research-1-5017939

Event - Great War exhibition coming to Nottingham Castle in 2014

Nottingham Castle will host a major exhibition, From The Trent to the Trenches, in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of WWI.

Nottingham City Council's Museums and Galleries Service was approached by the Imperial War Museum, London, to join a network of other key museums around the UK who will be programming large-scale events to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of WWI, in 2014.

The exhibition has now grown into a collaboration with Nottinghamshire County Council, and - we hope - with other museums around the county.

Volunteer Major John Cotterill has helped to recruit an enthusiastic team of volunteers from across the city and county to help research and deliver this ambitious project over the coming years, which will leave an enduring legacy.

The exhibition will look at the contribution made by Nottingham and Nottinghamshire people across all the core military services, as well as life on the home front. The exhibition will also explore the changes wrought by WWI on all aspects of society - changes which reverberate through the decades to the present day.

Paintings, drawings, photographs, maps, Trench Art and other objects will act as touchstones for the descendents of those involved, as well as being a catalyst for investigations in to their own family history. The galleries will include map tables, and research stations, so that visitors can carry out research on the spot, with the assistance of a team of volunteers; there will also be a 'feedback wall' so that people can leave their own memories and stories. Much of the research into Nottingham institutions (schools, factories, businesses, families etc) will be carried out specifically for the exhibition by a team of volunteers and will therefore leave an enduring legacy.

The exhibition is likely to run from July to November 2014, with a special event on 4 August to coincide with the actual centenary of the start of the Great War

Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Tourism, said, "The Great War was dubbed 'the war to end all wars'. As we commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of conflict, this exhibition will also provide a moment of thought and reflection for all of us. It will also allow us to explore the impact of the Great War on Nottinghamshire today and to capture the stories of the Great War from sons and daughters of those who fought in the field or made their contribution at home, perhaps for the last time."
Nottinghamshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability Richard Butler said the events planned for the city and the county would be a fitting tribute to the thousands of Nottinghamshire people who lost their lives in the Great War.

"This exhibition will be an amazing history lesson for all who view it," said Councillor Butler. "The county council is also compiling a database of all who died in the 1914 - 18 War from a wide collection of sources including industry, business, church, public and military records - it will be a definite record for future generations."

A Great War Antiques Roadshow will be held at County Hall during the summer of 2013.

From: http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=17478

Event - Great War Centenary 2014 Preperations (Worksop)

Worksop has a long and proud history and is currently preparing to take its place in the centenary exhibition on the Great War of 1914-1918.

The main event will take place at Nottingham Castle during 2014 and will be known as "The Trent to the Trenches": the Nottinghamshire Great War

There will be an planning meeting this Sunday at 2pm at Worksop Library for anyone wishing to take on a volunteer role. Various tasks need to be undertaken including research roles, assisting with genealogy enquiries and much more.

The meeting is is free to attend and open to everyone,

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help ensure the centenary of the war that changed the face of the county is marked in a comprehensive and comprehensible way. Only this way will its importance continue to be remembered and appreciated in the 21st century.

For further details please contact Major John Cotterill , the Centenary Exhibition Organiser on 07733 458971 or at john.cotterill@btinternet.com or just turn up at the library.

Event - Help needed with war centenary exhibition (Newark)

Volunteers are being sought from the Newark area to help with an ambitious project to mark the centenary of the first world war in 2014.

 

An exhibition will begin on August 4, 2014 — a century to the day Britain declared war on Germany — at Nottingham Castle and will continue until Remembrance Sunday that year.

A large amount of work is needed before the exhibition starts and people with an interest in the war are being asked to help.

The project is being led on a voluntary basis by Major John Cotterill, of the 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters).

 

He is a trustee of the Sherwood Foresters Museum.

He said the Trent To The Trenches exhibition would explain the impact the war had on Nottinghamshire.

The conflict claimed the lives of about 11,000 people from the county.

A launch day for volunteers takes place at Nottingham Castle at 10.30am on January 22, for which people need to register.

Major Cotterill said there were several components to the project, being jointly funded by Nottinghamshire county and Nottingham city councils.

A database will be compiled with the details of every person from Nottinghamshire who died in the war.

 

Large data screens will be displayed at the exhibition mapping casualties by parish so visitors can view those who died in their area. The database will be available online.

Major Cotterill said volunteers were needed to research names from war memorials and hoped someone could co-ordinate the work in Newark and Sherwood.

About 1,500 people from the district died in the war.

Another part of the project is to bring war memorials to life through volunteers giving talks at memorials about those commemorated and their links to the area.

These talks will be throughout 2014.

Tours will be organised of war memorials of particular significance, such as those that include noteworthy names.

Enthusiasts are needed to identify which memorials in Newark and Sherwood should be included, and help research and deliver their part of the tour.

The impact the war had on organisations such as sports teams, factories and businesses also needs to be researched.

Those with links to schools are asked to come forward to help organise the involvement of children, which is expected both in the school holidays and in term time.

During the exhibition experts will be on hand to help visitors research their family links to the war.

Antiques Roadshow-style events will enable people to bring along first world war-related items so they discover more about them.

The exhibition will take up the ground floor of Nottingham Castle. People with an interest in design are being invited to help with the layout.

Young people in particular are being encouraged to get involved and may be able to earn a qualification through their contribution.

Anyone interested should contact Major Cotterill on 0115 957 2010 or 07733458971, or email john.cotterill613@mod.uk or john.cotterill@btinternet.com

 

From: http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Help-needed-with-war-centenary-exhibition

Article - Watching over their war heroes (Gainsborough/Ottawa. Can)

For more than 90 years, people in Gainsborough, England, have been faithfully watching over the graves of two Ottawa airmen killed there during the First World War.

But the decades have taken a toll on the stone monuments, so a local group is looking for descendants of the men to get their permission to restore the proud headstones marking the final resting places of Lieut. John Bernard "Don" Brophy and Lieut. James Arthur Menzies.

"They died a long way from home, so we think it's only right the local community looks after these headstones and makes sure they're kept in good repair," said Peter Bradshaw, a teacher and member of the Friends of the Gainsborough Cemetery Chapels.

The group has already restored the gravestones of a British and a South African airman, which were unveiled recently during a Remembrance Day service.

Bradshaw, 52, said there are six other gravestones the group would like to restore, at an estimated cost of about $4,800. A local charity has offered to cover half the cost and Bradshaw's group has already raised about $1,600, so they're getting close.

If he is able to locate descendants of Brophy or Menzies, they would be welcome to donate, but Bradshaw said that's not why he's trying to find them.

"The intention isn't to raise the money," he said. "The intention is to get permission from the families."

Masons have already inspected the gravestones belonging to the Canadians and say they need to be stabilized and moved slightly to stand on more solid ground.

Brophy and Menzies were stationed in Gainsborough, which is located about 60 kilometres east of Sheffield, to intercept Zeppelins flying across the North Sea from Germany.

It was dangerous work. The airmen flew in the dark of night and many lost their lives.

Brophy died during a flying accident on Christmas Eve 1916, while Menzies was killed the following year during an air raid. They were buried side-by-side in a small cemetery, on the ridge of a leafy slope.

Lieut. Brophy was born in 1893. An Irish Catholic, he grew up on Chapel Street and attended St. Patrick's School and the Ottawa Collegiate Institute (now known as Lisgar Collegiate). He was a gifted football player and apparently viewed the war as just another sport - only one with more violence and greater consequences.

He was one of only two known Canadian airmen to keep a diary during the war, and the only to deal with fighting on the Western Front.

Brophy's father was a civil engineer who worked for the Department of the Interior. He was a widower and had two daughters, Rita and Fawnie.

Menzies was born in 1896 to parents Peter and Isabella. The family lived on Waverly Street and Bradshaw said his name appears on the war memorial at Knox Presbyterian Church on Elgin Street.

His two brothers also served in the war and attended his funeral, according to a local newspaper report from the time. One of the brothers, Albert Percy Menzies, was a Presbyterian clergyman.

Brophy's headstone is a large tablet with a pointed top, engraved with a small branch and leaves.

Menzies' gravestone, which in pictures appears to be leaning to one side, features a large stone cross and the inscription: "If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me."

A third Canadian airman was also buried in the Gainsborough cemetery. Bradshaw said he tracked down Private Carey Pinnock's niece in Toronto, who sent photos of her uncle and a donation to the restoration project.

Three months before his own death, Menzies was injured in the crash that killed Pinnock.

Bradshaw, who teaches history at the Trent Valley Academy in Gainsborough, got involved with the cemetery group about a decade ago after taking groups of students to war cemeteries and battlefields in Belgium and France.

Gainsborough residents have long recognized the great sacrifices made by men like Brophy and Menzies. Many people in the town attended the military funerals for the two men and have kept watch over their graves all these years, he added.

"It's too far for the families to keep an eye on the headstones and make sure they're kept in good order, so we think it's only right that the local people get involved."

Think you are or someone you know is related to Lieut. Brophy or Lieut. Menzies? Let us know. Email mpearson@ottawacitizen.com

READ Lieut. Brophy's First World War diary at http: //www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/ dhh-dhp/his/docs/Pebbles.pdf

From http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Watching+over+their+heroes/5776154/story.html

News - Hero honoured nearly a century after his death (Thorne)

ALMOST a century after he suffered fatal injuries while serving his country in the First World War, the contribution of a South Yorkshire soldier has been officially recognised.

The “Debt of Honour”, run by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), records the names of more than 1.7 million servicemen who died in the two world wars.

The name of Thomas Ernest Butler, from Thorne near Doncaster, has now been added to the list, 93 years after his death.

One of 12 children, Corporal Butler, joined the York and Lancaster Regiment at the outbreak of war in 1914 and served in Gallipoli, Egypt, France and Belgium.

He was invalided out of the army in March 1918, with blindness in one eye, and died four months later.

Councillor Tony Brookes, who was researching those commemorated on Thorne War Memorial, said he was “surprised” to find that Corporal Butler was not on the Debt of Honour.

Barbara Melling, the granddaughter of one of the soldier’s sisters, was able to provide his birth certificate, which attributed his death to “gas on active service” and pneumonia.

Coun Brookes then put the case to the CWGC, which accepted that Corporal Butler’s death had resulted from his war service, and added his name to the United Kingdom Book of Remembrance.

It is also likely that the CWGC will provide a headstone in the churchyard where Corporal Butler he was buried.

Ms Melling said: “Now Tom is in the Debt of Honour I know that he won’t ever be forgotten.

“I am very happy, but also sad that it has taken 93 years for him to get the recognition he deserves.”

Coun Brookes added: “I am delighted that Tom has finally been recognised at such an appropriate time – the run up to Remembrance Day, which is also the 90th anniversary of Thorne War Memorial.

“There is at least one other Thorne soldier, Albert Venus, who the CWGC has not recognised, so I will now be pushing his case.”

From: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/hero_honoured_nearly_a_century_after_his_death_1_3946629

News - Memorabilia gift to museum sheds light on war hero Collie

COLLIE Sallmayer was the sort of officer his men would die for.

Just after the end of the First World War one of his soldiers, Sherwood Foresters Lance Corporal J Freeman, of 15 Wordsworth Road, West Bridgford, wrote to Sallmayer at the regimental barracks in Kilworth Camp, County Cork.

"I am proud of having served with you and, also the platoon, would go through fire and water for you. Perhaps you already know that, Sir."

LCpl Freeman was probably referring to a day of bitter fighting on the San Sisto Ridge in northern Italy when 2nd Lieutenant Coleman Leonard James Maurice Sallmayer of the 1/8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters won the Military Cross.

The Foresters were holding a 1,000m line against a massed attack by the Austrian army.

Casualties were heavy, officers falling at the head of their troops. Sallmayer was the only one left to command a hard-pressed company of men. Under heavy fire, he organised an orderly withdrawal, never leaving his men ... even though he was in agony, his leg having been splintered by shrapnel from an exploding shell.

It was during the same battle that Foresters senior officer, Lt Colonel Charles Hudson, won the Victoria Cross.

This week, more than 90 years after Sallmayer's heroism saved the company, the medal he won that day was handed over to the Sherwood Foresters museum. It came with a few pieces of the shrapnel that was embedded in his leg, all part of a remarkable collection of memorabilia passed on by his family.

Collie Sallmayer's Military Cross is all the more valuable to the Sherwood Foresters museum, housed in Nottingham Castle, because he won it twice.

In the final weeks of the war, having been returned to active duty after the wounds suffered at San Sisto Ridge, Sallmayer was leading an attack in northern France to take ground the Germans had held since 1914.

They put up fierce resistance, heavy machine-gun fire forcing the attack to waver. Sallmayer rallied his troops and urged them forward until they had reached and captured their objective. He was later awarded a bar to his MC.

Now his medals and letters, including the one from a grateful L Cpl Freeman, together with a silver-plated knife, fork and spoon stamped with the Foresters' badge, have been handed to the museum.

The articles had been passed down to cousins Colleen Howells, stepdaughter of Lt Sallmayer, and Elizabeth Rees who decided that now was the right time for them to go to the museum.

Colleen's mother Daisy married Coleman (Collie) Sallmayer in 1938, just a few months before he died of TB. Daisy then remarried and had Colleen.

When Daisy passed away Coleman Sallmayer's effects were split between Colleen and her cousin Elizabeth Rees. As both are suffering from failing health, they have chosen to donate the items to the museum.They were delivered from Mrs Howell's home in Wales by family friend William O'Brien who explained: "Colleen is not in good health and she felt the collection should be given to the museum to ensure its safety. She feels it is the most appropriate place.

"They are very proud of their association with Collie Sallmayer and the Sherwood Foresters."

The items were received by Cindy Baines, curator and assistant regimental secretary, and museum trustee Cliff Housley, who said: "It is an absolutely wonderful collection. To have so many items from one man is fantastic."

Documents will be preserved and the medals will go on show.

Sallmayer's home was in the heart of London's Mayfair.

"He had studied in Heidelberg before the war and later was a teacher. He was a true academic," said Mr O'Brien.

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Memorabilia-gift-museum-sheds-light-war-hero/story-13436916-detail/story.html

News - Hunt for historic war memorial lost in city (Nottingham)

AN old wall plaque which was displayed in the Loggerheads pub recorded the names of 249 Nottingham men who gave their lives during the First World War.

They were names of heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of freedom.

Each of the men were from the former Narrow Marsh area, which stretched between Canal Street and the Lace Market. But local history campaigners have now lost trace of the plaque, which was removed from the pub following its closure in 2009.

Sue Bell, secretary of the Sherwood Foresters Malayan Veterans Association, would like to see put on public display once again.

"It is the least those brave men deserve," she said.

Mrs Bell who, along with Lord Mayor Councillor Michael Wildgust, has taken a leading role in the restoration of plaques which once stood in the Basford Social Club, believes the Narrow Marsh memorial was removed for safe-keeping... but she does not know who has got it now.

The Basford plaques will be mounted in St Mary's Church, Bulwell, in September – and she and the Lord Mayor would like to carry out a similar project with the Loggerheads memorial, if it can be retrieved.

"That memorial, and those names, really belong to the families of the fallen. They belong on public display," he said.

In 2001, Mick Walton, then landlord of the Loggerheads announced his intention for the memorial to be restored and for it to be fitted to the outside of the pub. The Loggerheads, in Cliff Road, was the only pub in England to boast its own war memorial, evidence of the place the pub held in the tight-knit Narrow Marsh community.

It was one of Nottingham's oldest pubs, officially dating back to 1743, although some evidence exists to suggest there was an inn on the site in Elizabethan times.

It was set into the cliffs below the old Nottingham jail, with caves dating from Anglo Saxon times used for storing ale.

The name Loggerheads has two possible explanations – either derived from the post in a boat to which a rope is attached or from the phrase "We be loggerheads three."

It has long been rumoured that the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin used the pub. Notes in the diary and account book of a Lincolnshire farmer known as Tobias K, suggest that he met Turpin in the Loggerheads on April 2, 1732. His notes read: "D T was highly fettled. Had a good run from Birmingham to Leicester. I bought three gold rings, one diamond pin, five gold brooches, seven gold chains and five gold watches and sundries."

No doubt the ill-gotten gains of Turpin's nefarious activities.

The Loggerheads was the last surviving pub out of 17 that were once in Narrow Marsh before the area was cleared in the 1930s.

If you know of the whereabouts of the Loggerheads memorial and would like to help with the restoration project, call Sue Bell on 07742 138125.

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Hunt-historic-war-memorial-lost-city/story-13185902-detail/story.html

Event - Model of consistency (Doncaster’s Aeroventure)

IF you’re a man of a certain age, his work may look pretty familiar.

Not sure yet? Think of plastic kits, enamel paint and transparent bits of plastic which you couldn’t see through because you got too much glue on them!

If that sounds like something from your childhood bedroom, you may recognise the artist’s work which is currently on show at Doncaster’s Aeroventure air museum.

Painter Keith Woodcock was one of the team of artists who drew the pictures for the boxes which countained hundreds of Airfix model kits.

Keith, who was born in Bradford but lived for many years in Sheffield, has dozens of examples of his work on show at the museum at Doncaster Lakeside.

After careers in engineering, he decided in 1982 to become a full-time artist, concentrating on his major subject interests of aviation and motoring.

As well as his work for Airfix, he has also done paintings for Boeing, BAE Systems, Ford Germany, Cathay Pacific Airlines, The Post Office, the Royal Air Force, Alfa Romeo UK, the German Luftwaffe, the Norwegian Air Force, the RAF Benevolent Fund, the United States Government, and the Saudi Arabian Air Force.

His work for the US Government includes no fewer than five commissioned paintings for the CIA, which hang at the Agency’s headquarters at Langley, Virginia.

He said of his work: “An artist has the power to transcend the purely photographic image, to tell a story, create mood and give the painting life and an enduring appeal.”

A spokesman for Aeroventure said: “Nearly everyone in the UK will have seen some of Keith’s artistry - he has produced designs for Royal Mail stamps and Airfix kits, amongst other commercial work.

“The images on display in Doncaster depict a wide variety of scenes, starting with Edwardian flying meetings and running on through both First and Second World Wars to the present day, illustrating the whole history of aviation. “There are also examples of Keith’s motoring subjects, which include some of the true classics from the past.”

The exhibition will be on show at the air museum until Sunday September 18, as an addition to its normal exhibits.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/model_of_consistency_1_3636888

News - Major recruits army of Notts volunteers to tell story of the Great War (Notts)

THE war memorials and plaques honouring those who fell bear silent witness to the part the men and women of Notts played in the First World War.

Those who served on the front line were among the bravest of the brave, those who were left behind kept the wheels of industry turning.

The centenary of the start of what was supposed to be "the war to end all wars" is three years away, but already plans are being drawn up to commemorate the part local people played.

In 2014, Nottingham Castle will be the venue for an ambitious exhibition reflecting every aspect of the local contribution to the war effort.

The man tasked with organising the exhibition is serving officer Major John Cotterill of 2 Mercian (Worcesters and For esters), a career soldier and military historian.

Although the event, scheduled for August to November 2014, is still three years away, Major Cotterill says his preparations have already begun and he is hoping to quickly recruit local enthusiasts to provide support and help.

"I will need lots of volunteers," he said. "The exhibition will run for between two and three months, every day.

"The exhibition will, of course, feature artefacts and memorabilia from the First World War – but they can wait. What is important now is for me to talk to people interested in becoming involved.

"I need ideas. We will be taking over the whole of the first floor at the Castle, it is a big space to fill.

"The only limiting factor will be funding, so we will be relying on people's goodwill."

Archival material from the Sherwood Foresters Museum, which is located in the Castle, will be readily available, but Major Cotterill wants stories from as many other regiments as possible, along with ships of the Royal Navy and squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps.

And from the home front the contribution of local industry will have to be recognised.

From 1914 to 1918, Raleigh, Boots, Players and other manufacturing centres all turned their machines and employees to war work.

The shell-filling factory at Chilwell employed thousands of local people; hospitals were stretched to breaking point as they cared for the injured.

It is Major Cotterill's ambition to create an exhibition that will honour all contributions, and reflect on the war's impact on our community.

"This exhibition gives us an opportunity to explore all of the facets of Nottinghamshire's involvement in the war that changed this country more than any other," he said.

"Men from the county fought on land, on sea and in the air and very few families do not have an ancestor – known or unknown – who did not come home again.

"Men and women worked in the shell filling factory at Chilwell or in other war-related industries.

"Women filled the jobs of men who went away, in the fields and the factories as well as nursing both at home and abroad.

"Women also joined all three of the Armed Forces themselves for the first time.

"There is a tremendous amount of interest in the Great War and knowledge about it throughout Notts. We are keen to tap into this enthusiasm in the very early planning stages so that the Centenary Exhibition can be as comprehensive as possible."

If you would like to become involved in the Great War Exhibition, or have any memorabilia to loan for display, contact Major Cotterill c/o RHQ Mercian (Nottingham), Foresters House, Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell, Nottingham NG9 5HA or email john.cotterill@btinternet.com

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Major-recruits-army-Notts-volunteers-tell-story-Great-War/article-3422969-detail/article.html