Connect, Collaborate, Curate: Lives of the First World War

The Imperial War Museum has issued a nationwide call to action for members of the British public to offer up information for its permanent digital memorial. The Museum's aim is to tell the life stories of men and women across Britain and the Commonwealth who made a contribution to the First World War effort.

Lives of the First World War has been created to publicise a huge archive of documents which highlight the personal stories of the First World War. It is designed as a permanent digital memorial to more than eight million men and women from across Britain and the Commonwealth who served in uniform and worked on the home front.

Luke Smith, the museum's Digital Lead for the First World War Centenary explained that the launch of the site was only the beginning, adding that much like the Imperial War Museum's founding ethos of acting as a record of the "toil and sacrifice" of every person who had served, the museum needed people to remember these people now and in the future. 

“Whether they choose to simply remember someone online, upload a picture from their family album, share a story passed down through generations or connect official records to build a full and factual picture of what happened to that person throughout the war."

The ambitious project, which echoes the Imperial War Museum’s founding ethos of acting as a record of the “toil and sacrifice” of every person who had served, is the 21st century digital response to the idea that there should be an easily referenced record of everybody’s contribution.