Nottingham Great War centenary exhibition call for help

BBC News: Nottingham Great War centenary exhibition call for help
War I are being asked to help with an exhibition in Nottingham.

The Nottinghamshire Great War centenary exhibition will mark the contribution ordinary people made to the war.

It will open at Castle Museum in August 2014, the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI.

Organisers have appealed for volunteer guides to help visitors with their own research as well as personal mementos, letters and war diaries for the show.

Exhibition curator and military historian Major John Cotterill said: "We want our exhibition to be a living exhibition.

"An exhibition where people can come in and ask about their Great War ancestors and we can produce the photographs, the maps and the information that brings their query to life."

Hidden histories
Maj Cotterill, a serving soldier with the Mercian regiment based at Chilwell barracks, said: "I've been talking to people who have some incredible diaries - military and civilian - that have never been published.

"Some have been transcribed and some are stored away in people's attics," he said.

The military historian is appealing for war artefacts.

"Trench art that soldiers brought back, German helmets, all sorts of things," said Maj Cotterill.

"Normally museums take only stuff that has been donated but we are happy to take stuff that has been loaned."

People who have time or possessions to contribute to the exhibition are asked to write to RHQ Mercian at Foresters House, Chilwell, Nottingham NG9 5HA or email john.cotterill@btinternet.com directly.