The stories of some of the brave men who died defending their country in the two World Wars can now be told at Chatham War Memorial thanks to modern technology.

Visitors to the Great Lines will be able to find out about seven members of the armed forces commemorated there by using their smartphone.

All they have to do is scan the quick response code on the new information panels there to access their stories.

The four panels have been installed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to remember the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War.

Another was put in place at Gillingham Cemetery in Woodlands Road earlier this year.

The Chatham panels were officially opened by retired naval officer Sir Timothy Laurence, commissioner of the CWGC and husband of the Princess Royal, yesterday (Thursday).

Sir Timothy said the passing of the years since the conflicts meant a new generation might not know as much about them.

"The human stories are fascinating," he said.

"For the young people today who wonder what on earth the First World War was about and why people were involved, to find out a little bit more about the 17, 18, 19, 20-year-olds that were involved in this and commemorated here is very important."

One of those who was at the unveiling was Tom Rainsbury, who is named after his uncle.

Able Seaman Tom Rainsbury served and died aboard HMS Jervis Bay in 1940 when he was 23.

The ship was based at Chatham Dockyard before war broke out in the 1939.

A year later in the North Atlantic, the vessel held off the German cruiser Admiral Scheer for three hours, despite being hopelessly outgunned.

This brave feat allowed the convoy of 31 ships Jervis Bay was protecting to escape.

Mr Rainsbury said it was an "immensely proud" moment for him and the panels were a "fantastic development".

"I'm certainly now going to bring my children up here and their children, so I’m going to bring the next two generations of my family up here," he said.

"They've all got their smartphones as well and they can have a play with this QR code but with a more meaningful reason behind it, they can learn at the same time."

The Jervis Bay's captain was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, and visitors will be able to find out more about his bravery as well.

Captain Edward Stephen Fogarty Fegen served in both of the World Wars, and survived his ship being sunk just two days after the outbreak of war in 1914.

He spent the rest of the the "Great War" serving on destroyers.

In 1918, he won the Silver Medal for Gallantry in saving life at sea, for coming to the assistance of the crew of an oil carrier which had collided with another ship and burst into flames.

After the armistice, Fegen was seconded to the Royal Australian Navy.

He later served as executive officer at their naval college, which was located on Jervis Bay in a coastal enclave on the south coast of New South Wales.

The vessel on which he later achieved fame and lost his life was named after this bay.