On Friday, 28th April 2017 Away from the Western Front will be holding a formal launch event at Islington Museum in London. Away from the Western Front, a registered charity, has received a grant of £99,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its dynamic First World War centenary project which will explore the heritage of the men and women from Britain and its former Empire who served in the often overlooked campaigns of Salonika, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia and Africa.
By invitation only: to enquire about ticket availability (free) please contact aftwf1418@gmail.com
Islington Council’s Heritage Manager, Cheryl Smith, said: “We’re proud to be hosting the launch of this project, which illuminates the lives of the everyday men and women whose courage and contributions to these lesser-known campaigns of the Great War are often eclipsed.”
Based in the UK the project will offer contrasting perspectives on the campaigns and provide opportunities for local communities to engage with and learn about this global event. The project will also be working with Turkish and Iraqi communities which opposed the Allies in the First World War and with groups originally from India, Pakistan and the West Indies whose forebears volunteered to join the British army.
In addition to a national music event and a creative writing competition the project will be working with several local and regional partners in Devon, Lancashire, Berkshire, Sussex and London. Local museums and National Trust properties in these areas will work with adult community groups, youth groups and schools with funding from the grant to research the lives and stories of those who served in these far away campaigns. Those stories will be brought to life through engaging creative outputs, drama, film, art and music, specifically designed to raise public awareness of the First World War away from the Western Front.
Programme
13.30 Buffet lunch
14.00 Introduction – Lyn Edmonds, Project Director
14.05 Outline of the project – Robin Clutterbuck, National Coordinator
14.15 ‘Mesopotamia: The Greatest Sideshow?’ – Major Paul Knight, PhD
14.45 ‘Sand Flies, Mongoose and Camels’ – Susan Burnett
15.15 ‘Black British Caribbean service in Palestine’ – Tony T
15.45 Regional projects: brief introductions from leaders
16.15 Conclusion
The regional projects are:
‘Lancashire to Mesopotamia’. Using the collections and archives of the Lancashire Infantry Museum in Preston, Lancashire County Council will work with local secondary schools, exploring the Mesopotamian Campaign, with a further focus on the role of the Indian Army and the modern Iraqi perspective on the First World War.
‘In Foreign Fields’. Also linked to Mesopotamia, this project will follow the stories of young men from North Devon who travelled far away from the Western Front, experiencing wildly different cultures and environments. Participants will explore the impact on the local rural community and consider what it means to us, a century on.
‘From Islington to Egypt, Palestine and Syria’. Islington Museum has transcribed the war diaries of the Finsbury Rifles. The regiment served in Gallipoli, Egypt, Palestine and Syria and the museum will work with local youth groups to create animations exploring issues arising from the campaign, and to feature the story of a railway worker from Euston who was awarded a VC in Palestine in December 1917.
‘The First World War – an Iranian Perspective’. As a neutral country Iran (then still known as Persia) did not expect to be caught up in the First World War. However Britain, Russia and Germany all manoeuvred for control in the country, and the impact on the local population was severe. We are working with the Iranian Association to explore this history and relate it to current Iranian and British perspectives of the war.
‘Castle Drogo to Salonika’. This National Trust property in Devon was being built during the First World War, to designs by the leading British architect Edwin Lutyens. Using detailed estate, military and social archives, local secondary school pupils will explore the story of one of the estate workers who was killed in Salonika in January 1918 and create arts activities to bring his story to a wider audience.
‘Salonika Stories’. In the village of Burghclere, Hampshire is the Sandham Memorial Chapel, where British artist Stanley Spencer was commissioned to paint a series of panels based on his experiences in the Salonika campaign. This project will create a film about the campaign and invite the local community to respond to the history and to Spencer’s evocative and spiritual paintings.
‘Horses in the Desert’. Thousands of horses, mules and donkeys were caught up in the war and in this project, Chichester University theatre studies students will work with the archives of the Swaythling Remount Depot where horses were collected and trained before being shipped overseas. Stories of individual horses will provide the inspiration for a play to be written and performed to local communities and schools.
‘Health – the Hidden Enemy’. Health was an issue which affected all of the campaigns fought away from the Western Front. In the East African Campaign the vast majority of casualties were caused by illness rather than military action and we will be working alongside the Great War in Africa Association to explore the findings of a report into medical failures, relating them to modern army practices.
In addition to the HLF award, the project is being supported by grants from the Centre for Hidden Histories at the University of Nottingham and the British Institute for the Study of Iraq (Gertrude Bell Memorial). The latter will enable British students taking part in one of the regional projects to meet Iraqi students of the same age to meet and exchange opinions.
The local, regional and national outputs from this project will be presented on a dedicated website offering a long-term digital archive designed for public access and learning. This website will be launched at the event.
