WW1 Remembrance Projects
This page lists a variety of projects and activities carried out in the spirit of “Remembrance”, specifically to remember the generation of 1914-1918 who lived through the Great War or who were casualties on land, at sea or in the air.
During the Centenary commemoration of the First World War in 2014-2018 many projects of Remembrance were undertaken by communities, organizations, regional authorities and individuals. Researchers and family historians will undoubtedly be interested to know about the name lists and rolls of honour that were researched and compiled.
Your Project
If you are involved in a project to further knowledge about the First World War, you are looking to find volunteers or you are hoping people can help to contribute information to your project, tell us about your project. Contact us at:
Email: info@greatwar.co.uk
Featured Remembrance Projects
Index to our featured Name Lists, Rolls of Honour, and War Grave Projects:
- Australian War Graves Photographic Archive
- British War Graves: War Graves Photographs
- Every One Remembered
- Lijssenthoek Project (Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery)
- Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum Database Project)
- The Maple Leaf Legacy Project
- Names List Project (West Flanders Fields Database Project)
- New Zealand War Graves Project
- North East War Memorials Project
- Passchendaele Roll of Honour Project (Memorial Museum Passchendaele Project, Belgium)
- South Africa War Graves Project
- Thiepval Database Project (Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, Somme)
- War Memorials Register (UK)
- War Memorials (UK): Commemoration & Remembrance Websites:
- War Graves Photographic Project
- Wartime Memories Project
Arts and research projects, historical preservation, personal interpretations of Remembrance and more:
- The Army Children of the First World War (The Army Children Archive)
- Great War Huts
- The LMS Patriot Steam Engine Project
- Military Boots Sewing Project (Trent to Trenches)
- Remembrance Image Project (Photographs 100 Years On)
- Trench Brothers
Programmes and collections of resources brought together to commemorate the centenary:
- Our/Your War Stories (New South Wales State Library)
Australian War Graves Photographic Archive
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Started in the year 2000 the Australian War Graves Photographic Archive (AWGPA) aims to procure a digital photograph of every single Australian casualty commemorated on a war grave throughout the world.
The AWGPA seeks volunteers to help with the project by way of being a supporter and/or a photographer. The majority of photographs of graves have been taken, but if you think the archive may not have a photograph please make contact. The archive is looking to add photographs of local Australian war memorials. Pages on the AWGPA website can be sponsored financially or in kind. Websites can link to the project to show support.
To find out more see our page at:
Australian War Graves Photographic Archive
British War Graves: War Graves Photographs
This is a project led by Mick McCann and other volunteers to establish an archive of photographs of British war graves in the United Kingdom and around the world. Photographs of the graves are supplied free of charge.
Website: www.britishwargraves.co.uk
Every One Remembered
An online commemoration of over 1.1 million Servicemen and women who died in the First World War. The project was led by the Royal British Legion.
Website: www.everyoneremembered.org
Lijssenthoek Project (Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery)
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A project to build a new visitors' centre at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery was started in 2009 and the centre was completed in 2012. An important part of the project has been to collect stories about as many of the 10,000 casualties buried in the cemetery as possible.
If you have a relative or research information about a casualty buried in this cemetery the project would like to hear from you. For details of who to contact see our page at:
Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum Database Project)
During the 14-18 Centenary the IWM launched a website to create a permanent digital memorial, asking people to add content onto the website to provide details of the men and women listed on this huge database. The project is now closed to new information. It contains the Life Stories of over 8 million men and women from across Britain and the Commonwealth who served in uniform and worked on the home front during the First World War.
Website: www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org
The Maple Leaf Legacy Project
This is a photographic project in memory of Canada's war dead. With the help of volunteers the aim is to photograph every Canadian war grave from the South African War (1899-1902) to the present day. To find out more and how you can help visit the website.
Website: www.mapleleaflegacy.ca
Names List Project (West Flanders, Belgium)
This project was co-ordinated by the In Flanders Fields Museum (Ypres) and GONEWEST (Westhoek Remembrance Programme 2014-18). The aim was to compile a register of all the civilian and military victims who died in the Westhoek (West Flanders) region of Flanders in Belgium as a result of the First World War. For information, to search the list and find out how you can contribute see the In Flanders Fields Museum website:
Website: www.inflandersfields.be Name List
New Zealand War Graves Project
The New Zealand War Graves Trust is undertaking a project to compile a photographic and digital archive of New Zealand war memorials, graves and individuals who served in conflicts from the South African War of 1899-1902 to the present day. To find out more visit the website.
Website: www.nzwargraves.org.nz
North East War Memorials Project
The North East War Memorials Project was set up to record the war memorials located in the north-east of England encompassing the counties of Northumberland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Durham. The NWEMP is working closely with the War Memorials Archive (formerly the National Inventory of War Memorials) and is now forming the north-east part of the national project to archive all the war memorials in the United Kingdom.
For more information about the project in the north-east and how you can get involved see the website:
Website: www.newmp.org.uk
Passchendaele Roll of Honour Project
The Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in Zonnebeke, Belgium, is carrying out a project to put faces and stories to the names of the dead and missing of the Battle of Passchendaele 1917. Contributions to the Roll of Honour will help to create a personal record with photographs, family documentation and information from military sources.
If you have an ancestor who fought in the Third Battle of Ypres during July to November 1917 and if they died in action or died of their wounds and you have information about the person the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 would like to hear from you. For more information you can email or visit the museum's website to download a questionnaire to fill in details of your ancestor.
Email: archives@passchendaele.be
Website: archives.passchendaele.be
Telephone: +32 (0)51 77 04 41
South Africa War Graves Project
The aim of the project is to photograh the grave of every South African and Rhodesian war grave from the 2nd Anglo-Boer War to the present day. Visit the website to find out more and to view the research compiled to date.
Website: www.southafricawargraves.org
The Thiepval Database Project
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Since 2003 Pam and Ken Linge have been compiling a database of photographic and biographical details for the 72,000 officers and men commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing. Anyone with information about a relative or research material for a soldier commemorated on this memorial is invited to contact the project. In September 2015 Pam and Ken published the book Missing But Not Forgotten. See link below in Related Reading.
For more information go to our page at:
War Memorials Register UK)
A project supported by the Imperial War Museum (London). The database lists and locates over 100,000 war memorials in the United Kingdom. For more information see our page at:
War Memorials (UK): Commemoration & Remembrance Websites
Websites dedicated to the stories of those who are commemorated on war memorials in UK villages, towns and cities. For the most part the research has been carried out by volunteers and local historians.
Warwick War Memorial
Data and research gathered by the Unlocking Warwick Research Group volunteers for the fallen commemorated on the Warwick War Memorial in Warwickshire, UK. This website provides a continuing resource for the stories of those who are commemorated in the town.
Website: www.warwickwarmemorial.org.uk
The War Graves Photographic Project
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The War Graves Photographic Project is a voluntary project to create a photographic record of every British and Commonwealth war grave and memorial inscription from the First World War.
The War Graves Photographic Project
War Memorials Online
This is a project established by the War Memorials Trust with the support of Historic England. The aim is to create a list of war memorials across the United Kingdom and to record the condition they are in.
Website: www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk
The Wartime Memories Project
A website started in 1999 and run by volunteers. The site has been extensively developed over the years and includes stories and commemorations of individuals who served in the First World War. The project invites people to contribute stories and photographs.
Website: www.wartimememoriesproject.com
Artistic and Academic Projects, Personal Interpretations of Remembrance
The Army Children of the First World War
“The Army Children of the First World War” project has been established by The Army Children Archive (TACA) as part of the First World War Centenary Partnership, led by IWM (Imperial War Museums).
TACA highlights the plight of the army children of the First World War primarily visually, using two online galleries of images accessed via Flickr:
- The Army Children of the First World War: Faces and Families consists of a set of photographic portraits of army children and their families photographed between 1914 and 1918. Ten images have initially been posted, after which further images will be added weekly. Any known information about the faces and families pictured, or any clues offered by the photographs themselves, accompany the images. Viewers are invited to fill any information gaps and, if possible, to identify these forgotten faces.
- The Army Children of the First World War: a Sentimental View displays a selection of First World War-era sentimental postcards and ephemera featuring army children, and children generally. Many of these images were intended to tug at the heartstrings; others, to arouse patriotic feelings; another category reflects, through the prism of childhood, national preoccupations during the Great War. The initial ten images will similarly be augmented weekly.
To find out more or to make a contribution to the project you can contact TACA at the website:
Email: www.archhistory.co.uk Contact Form
Website: www.archhistory.co.uk 14-18
Website (The Army Children Archive - TACA): www.archhistory.co.uk
Great War Huts
A project to rescue and preserve a number of original First World War wooden huts which will form a groundbreaking new First World War Visitor Centre near Bury St. Edmonds in Suffolk, England. Find out more and how you can get involved:
Website: www.greatwarhuts.org
The LMS Patriot Project
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This is a project to build a Patriot Class steam locomotive from scratch. The project aims:
- To build a new 'Patriot' steam locomotive to the original Sir Henry Fowler parallel boiler design compatible for running on the mainline.
- To create the new National Memorial engine, which will be named “The Unknown Warrior”.
- To complete the engine in time for the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice in 2018.
For further details see our page with links to the LMS Patriot Project at:
Military Boots Sewing Project: Trent to Trenches (Nottingham City & County 1914-1918)
As Great Britain commemorates the centenary of World War One, artist Joy Pitts has created a work incorporating the names of 520 servicemen and women. The names have been sewn by hand and assembled into an image of a pair of military boots. Joy provided the materials for volunteers to hand-sew the names onto strips of cotton tape which then became part of an art work on canvas depicting a pair of military boots. During World War One it was common for both men and women to sew; repairing clothing at home and in the trenches, embroidering messages to send to loved ones and sewing bandages. This project recalls these activities. To see the finished work, visit Joy's website:
Website: www.joypitts.co.uk Military Boots
Remembrance Image Project
Photographer Simon Gregor has created a library of creative photographs documenting key sites associated with the First World War. Where possible the photos were taken at a point in time close to the 100th anniversary of a battle action in the same location. By publishing the images it has created an archive for future generations to see and reflect on.
See the website for more about the project.
Website: riproject.wordpress.com
Trench Brothers
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Trench Brothers is a project set up by the independent music charity HMDT to commemorate the achievements and contributions made by ethnic minority forces. The project combines a wide range of curriculum-linked, arts and skills-based activities with a new music theatre work. Recently cited by David Cameron and described as “imaginative and inspiring” by the government’s representative for the First World War Commemorations, Dr Andrew Murrison MP, the project has had an amazing reception from the schools which have taken part in 2014. Trench Brothers (which is for Year 5 and/or 6 students), is now being offered to schools for the summer and autumn terms 2015, and will be repeated again in 2016.
For more information go to the HMDT website:
Website: www.hmdt.org.uk Trench Brothers
WW1 Collections & Resources
Our/Your War Stories
Collections in the New South Wales State Library, brought together in themes to reflect Australia's experience of war. Themes include daily life at the fighting front, love and friendship, children in war, and entertainment for the troops. The collections of archive material include diaries, letters, newspapers, posters and photographs. The library is interested to hear from anyone who may be able to add to the collection or can give additional detail to the stories, photos and mementoes already held there. See the website to find out more about the collections and how you can contribute.
Website: www1.sl.nsw.gov.au
Related Reading
Missing but Not Forgotten: Men of the Thiepval Memorial - Somme [hardcover]
by Ken Linge and Pam Linge
This excellent book is published after more than 10 years of dedicated research into the men commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing. Ken and Pam Linge are behind the Thiepval Database Project and have been collecting biographical information on the missing men since 2003. 288 pages. Published by Pen & Sword Military (2 Sept 2015), ISBN-10: 1473823587; ISBN-13: 978-1473823587
The Home Front in Britain [paperback]
Wayne D. Cocroft (Editor); John Schofield (Editor); Catrina Appleby (Editor)
A CBA (Council for British Archaeology) Practical Handbook as part of the CBA led project Home Front Legacy 14-18. Published by Council for British Archaeology; ISBN: 9781909990012. Available from Oxbow Books (£12.00):
Website: www.oxbowbooks.com Home Front in Britain