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Home Folkestone News Article
Kent could soon be given a crucial insight into the horrors of the First World War - as a group pulls together vital stories from across the county.
Kent in WWI is a heritage group in Folkestone that needs the help of people living across the county to launch a website dedicated to the Great War.
Pop-up events are being held in coastal Kent urging anybody with information or items to make a contribution.
The group is hoping people living in the county get involved so they have enough content to get the site up and running, offering an insight into Kent’s links to the period.
Darrienne Price is the head of the Heritage Lottery funded project.
She said: “The website is designed as a platform for the coastal people of Kent to upload information about their town and their people.
“It’s so we get a real picture of what life was like during the First World War, both for those who served and for civilians.”
However, the group will only be able to launch the website next month if they have enough photos and information from groups, societies and individuals in the county.
Darrienne said: “Without the people of Kent we can’t tell their stories.
"We’ve got some knowledge and there is some on the web but we need this to be in one place so that you can find your information easily.
"It’s also so anybody else can see your town and the vibrancy which was happening in the First World War.
“Every town has its stories, every person that’s on a war memorial deserves to be brought to life, to be brought to flesh.”
She added: “Kent was very unique, we were the home for all of the forces: Navy, Air Force and the Army obviously.
"We were where people came from all over the world to pass through to go to the Western Front and not just the people who went through to fight but people like the Belgian Refugees who came here to seek shelter within our shores.”
One of the group’s events is being held in Folkestone Library from 2pm until 4pm today while another will be held at Sittingbourne library next Thursday.
Anybody who heads along will be given the chance to meet the team and find out more about the benefits of having a presence on the site.
Darrienne said: “This is just for the clubs and societies and anybody that’s been doing their own private research.
"We can help them, we can really help promote their research through Kent and really give it the wider platform that it deserves.”
If the project is successful in obtaining the material needed, the website will be launched by Friday December 20.
It comes as members of the Douglas Haig Fellowship headed by Lord Astor, deputy Lord Lieutenant of Kent, are meeting a French delegation at Brands Hatch today to plan a new First World War museum.
The exhibition about the British Army would be located in the French town of Montreuil.
The group hope to increase the awareness of the role of the British Army had behind the front lines.
John Spencer, Fellowship spokesman, said: “People often think of trenches mud and exploding shells when referring to the First World War.
“But there was a whole lot of other things going on behind the lines to keep those soldier fighting efficiently.”
“It’s so we get a real picture of what life was like during the First World War, both for those who served and for civilians” - Darrienne Price of Kent in WWI
“It was also about the ordinary man and woman in the streets, factories and front line who played a huge part together to fight the war.
Organisers are targeting 2016, the centenary of the British HQ moving to Montreuil, for when an exhibition centre could open just the other side of the Channel.
It is hoped more people will travel to France from the county to explore the history of the conflict and how it affected people in Kent.
He added: “It is an educational remit we have to broaden people’s awareness of the war taking people away from a one dimensional approach.”
“We are hoping schools and young people will be interested in going to visit any exhibition that opens, if we can raise more awareness and continue to educate then it is a good thing.”
The Fellowship should know in the new year if plans for the museum have been given the go-ahead.
