Public invited to bring in items from World War Two for preservation project

The objects will be recorded and added to an online digital collection
Shopping in Post-Blitz Plymouth. Image credit: Imperial War Museum
“Thirty years ago, there were a lot of war survivors who could tell their stories – now we’re relying on their heirlooms and memories to tell these stories for us. The stories of World War Two are being lost, we need to preserve them.”
Members of the public are being asked to bring in any items they own from World War Two to a special event at the University of Plymouth.
As part of a national scheme known as Their Finest Hour, objects will be recorded and added to an online digital collection to ensure they’re preserved for future generations.
Anyone with items from World War Two – from personal letters and photographs to artefacts and even shrapnel – is encouraged to come along to Roland Levinsky Building between 13:00 and 17:00 on Wednesday 15 November. Historians from the University, including students on the BA (Hons) History programme, will be around to analyse the items that come in, keen to capture the stories they tell.

The photographs, letters, diaries, medals and other artefacts symbolise the experiences of the wartime generation, and it is vital – for individuals, families and communities across Britain and the Commonwealth – to preserve and value this heritage before it is lost.

If you have anything in an attic, on your mantlepiece or anywhere else related to World War Two, we would love to see it at our open afternoon so we can photograph and/or record it. The items don’t necessarily have to have any monetary value – it’s all about the personal element and the stories they tell. There will be a real sense of importance attached to many of these objects as they’d have been thrown away by now if they didn’t mean anything.

Harry BennettHarry Bennett
Associate Professor (Reader) in History

Their Finest Hour is a nationwide project led by the University of Oxford and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, empowering local communities to digitally preserve stories and objects from World War Two before they are lost to posterity. 
Dr Bennett himself has a US wartime flag – with 48 stars instead of today’s 50 – and a deactivated rifle that he picked up as an antique. 
He added: 
“Our BA History students study a module on World War Two and naturally have seen things in cases. But when someone comes in with something like ‘Uncle Jack’s old medal’, it makes it so much more relatable. Thirty years ago, there were a lot of war survivors who could tell their stories – now we’re relying on their heirlooms and memories to tell the stories for us. The stories of World War Two are being lost, we need to preserve them.” 
Black and white retro image Battle of Britain WW2 airplanesBlack and white retro image of Lancaster bombers from Battle of Britain in World War Two
Ancient Roman Julian the Jurist statue made at the end of 19th century in front of the Old Palace of Justice in Rome

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