Tynemouth WW1 Commemoration Project

London Seminar showed the breadth of memorial projects

At a seminar hosted by the Imperial War Museum on HMS Belfast by Tower Bridge last Wednesday (15^th May) I was able to meet with some of the hundreds of representatives of community projects, museums and universities who plan to commemorate the Great War. A common theme was a determination that the contribution of every part of the United Kingdom to the war was acknowledged as we approach the centenary in 2014.

It became clear early in the seminar that the many projects today can harness the social and other media which abounds and use it for good, to engage with the younger generation and ensure that the lessons of that terrible conflict are not overlooked. Research commissioned by the government has shown that there are very varied perceptions amongst people of different generations and awareness of the Great War and its consequences.

Although a polling organisation British Futures has found diverse opinions on how best to commemorate the war, widespread interest in the centenary is obvious – including amongst ethnic minority communities, where there is strong interest in the role played by the more than 2 million troops drawn from the Indian Empire and other colonies.

The IWM’s Centenary Projects database showed that the main areas of activity are centred on exhibitions (276), one off events (1443) and digitisation of information / web-based learning projects. Like some others, the Tynemouth Project is planning a wide range of events covering all of those noted above and more.

The IWM is developing a ‘timeline’ for the war to allow people with no special knowledge to better understand events/ battles involving their relatives in the context of the conflict overall. This will be available in the near future at their website www.1914.org

In order that all the work being undertaken across the world can be made available readily a system of direct data entry will allow IWM recognised centenary projects such as ours to load information directly to the site.

Despite recent press comment suggesting the UK is behind in its planning for 2014, I came away reassured that much is already in hand and that the Tynemouth project will be playing a full part in the nation’s collective commemoration. You can now follow our project on Twitter - @tynemouthWW1 – three hundred and forty five persons with an interest in the centenary already do so, with more following us every day.

Alan Fidler