CWGC Launches New Campaign To Commemorate WWI Soldiers

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is marking the centenary of the end of the First World War by telling 120 personal stories of some of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The Road to Peace Campaign commemorates the 120,000 men and women who died between 8 August and 11 November 1918. 

The date that the campaign was launched on was in itself iconic, as it marked the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Amiens.

It will then conclude on 11 November with the stories of 11 people who died on the last day of the Great War - even as the gun fell silent.

Max Dutton, a historian working on the project, said it all started from the photographs:

"We started looking at it through the photographs of the individuals - finding those really emotive images from 100 years ago and then we build the stories of the individuals.

"Often we didn't know what we were going to find.

"We had this beautiful picture of a young man and then we go and discover his story and its been a really amazing journey discovering their lives."

Many of the accounts will be told for the first time.

Peter Francis, from the CWGC said the stories of the soldiers really "hit home" for him:

"Being able to find a photograph of somebody who served and died 100 years ago and then realising they're not very different to us - they had the same hopes, the same fears, the same loves and that their death still has an impact on our society today.

"I think that for me was the really telling point - and the ages of some of these individuals, some of them are young enough to be my children - that really hit home."

The stories will also include famous casualties, including war poet Wilfred Owen and will also show the stories of those who died in battle and of Spanish flu.

The Road to Peace stories will be shared every day on the CWGC's digital platforms.