Una página para recordar (en inglés)

Centre for First World War Studies

Forgotten Lives of the Great War

Only war itself can discover the qualities which count in war.

Ian Hay, The First Hundred Thousand (London: Blackwood, 1916), p. 164.

The Great War was a war of the peoples. In Britain the war effort included the raising of a mass volunteer (and then a conscript) army, the largest in British history, the mobilisation of industry, including the large-scale employment of women, and the first significant appearance of women in the military services. The achievements of ordinary people who took part in the war are, however, largely forgotten. Ordinary soldiers, in particular, are allotted only one place by the contemporary British media, that of passive victim. This denies them any moral stature and demeans their memory. This page commemorates the ordinary men and women of Britain who took part in the Great War.

If you would like to contribute a story, please contact the Director of the Centre for First World War Studies. Email: firstworldwar@bham.ac.uk