Lives of the First World War Project enters its final year

Findmypast and Imperial War Museums have announced that their collaboration project Lives of the First World War will cease taking submissions on 18 March 2019.

From this date onwards, IWM will act as the custodian of the millions of contributions made by members of the public, creating a permanent digital memorial that will always remain free to access.

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Lives of the First World War was launched in 2014 as the IWM’s flagship digital centenary project. Since then it has captured the stories of more than 7.6 million men and women from across Britain and the Commonwealth who contributed their ‘toil and sacrifice’ during the First World War.

As the project enters its final year, Findmypast and IWM are calling on members of the public to help them preserve as many stories as possible. By joining Lives of the First World War and uploading scans of photos, letters and diaries, by researching a name on a local war memorial, or by sharing anecdotes passed down through the generations, family historians will contribute to a permanent digital memorial that will help shape our understanding of this important period of world history, both now and in the future.

Millions of biographical details

Charlotte Czyzyk, Public Engagement and Project Manager for Lives of the First World War, said: From factory workers and members of the armed forces, to medics and conscientious objectors, Lives of the First World War has curated over 2.2 million biographical details, anecdotes and images thanks to the contributions of more than 130,000 dedicated members. These rich, personal life stories will be preserved by IWMs for future generations, serving as a powerful and permanent record of the ‘lost generation’.

Lives of the First World War project website.