Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Digital memorial to Great War soldiers

Digital memorial to Great War soldiers

From nurses and doctors to ambulance drivers and soldiers, the bravery of millions of people who served during World War I is to be immortalised in a permanent digital memorial.

Lives of the First World War will use information gleaned from the public over the next five years to piece together the life stories of those who served abroad and on the home front.

The project, run by Imperial War Museums (IWM) and DC Thomson Family History, will launch today when the records of more than 4.5 million men and 40,000 women who served with the British Army overseas will become available to view.

Stories already online include those of Sister Martha Aitken, who served in the Territorial Force Nursing Service in France and Flanders, and Thomas William Stratford, who fought in China and Gallipoli before being wounded in France and discharged.

The museum is still looking for more detail about their lives, and are also appealing for help in piecing together the stories of many other people in the project who are still just names.

Luke Smith, IWM’s digital lead for the First World War Centenary said: “Whether they choose to simply remember someone online, upload a picture from their family album or share a story passed down through generations, everyone can contribute.

“We need the public to help us piece together over eight million life stories, so that we can remember these people now and in the future.”

It is hoped the site will grow to become a permanent memorial, and will be maintained by the museum beyond the four-year centenary period as a research tool for future generations.

Historian Dan Snow, an ambassador of the project, said the site would become “one of the most extraordinary war memorials ever”.

He added: “IWM has created Lives of the First World War and is now handing it over to us, the public.

“We need to make it happen by uploading information about our First World War ancestors, piecing together their stories, remembering them and saving this knowledge for future generations.”

For more information, and to contribute visit www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org