WORLD WAR ONE ACTIVITIES
Bangor University
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There will be a major exhibition relating to World War 1 held at Bangor University
which will open in July 2014.
The annual Archives and Special Collection lecture, entitled “Memory and History ..
Remembering the First World War in Wales.”, will be given by Sir Deian Hopkin and
will deal with Welsh attitudes to the war and will be held on 12th November 2014.
Cardiff University
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For the autumn of 2014, Cardiff University Archives will be supporting an academic
WW1 conference in Cardiff University in September through a small exhibition of
WW1 sources held in the Special Collections and Archives.
In the autumn, the archives will be supporting student workshops based around the
WW1 collections, to support lecturers’ history modules.
Ceredigion Archive Service
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Ceredigion archives are working in a supportive role – making a list of all of the
archives’ WW1 sources and helping those currently engaged on WW1 projects. They
are working with the Ceredigion Local Historian Forum (www.ceredigionlhf.org.uk)
who are also supporting the constituent members of the Forum, the family & local
history societies of the county.
The archive have digitised an album and it is available to view on their website
http://www.archifdy-ceredigion.org.uk/galadx375.php
Gwent Archives
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Gwent Archives are partnering with the Western Front Association to create a
travelling exhibition. It will be launched at Gwent Archives where it will remain for
two weeks accompanied by a display of original documents. Thereafter the mobile
part of the display will travel around the county. A soldier in WW1 uniform is
available for demonstration sessions and it is envisaged that he will be hired for
school visits to the exhibition.
Accompanying the exhibition will be a guide to original documents relating to World
War One held by Gwent Archives. This will be available free at each venue and also
uploaded on the website. An education pack will also be created. The Gwent branch
of the Western Front Association is organising supporting events such as drama and
musical evenings some of which will be staged at Gwent Archives.
The exhibition will be titled ‘Gwent and the Great War’ and will concentrate on the
main features of the War and the part that Gwent played in them. The pop-ups will
cover the following themes: the troops depart – August 1914; The first action – the
capture of the Belgia; The first casualties; Belgian refugees in Gwent; The Christmas
Truce; The sinking of the Lusitania; Gwent’s black day – Ypres, 8 May 1915;
Conscription and conscientious objectors; Gwent merchant seamen; Jutland 1916;
The Somme 1916; Passchendaele 1917; Miners at war; Food and rationing; Women
at war; Children at War; Sportsmen at war; Victory 1918; Gwent VCs; The cost;
Survivors; The old soldier – Frank Richards; Remembering.
Gwynedd Archive Service
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Gwynedd Archives have a group of volunteers searching through their collections for
First World War references, e.g. they are looking through school log books, council
minutes etc. (documents that you wouldn’t naturally think of in terms of WWI and
haven’t been indexed in such a way that you’d connect them with the War). So far
what has been found has been used by schools and also in various newspaper
articles.
Gwynedd Archives will then create a travelling exhibition.
Gwynedd Archives are also working with Galeri (a not for profit community
enterprise), local schools and papurau bro (local newspapers) to create newspaper
front pages relating to the War.
Pembrokeshire Archive Service
 Pembrokeshire County Council will be using its bi-ennial Local History Fair to
commemorate the First World War. The fair is taking place on Saturday 27
September at Pembrokeshire Archives between 10am and 3pm. During the event
local history groups and related societies have stalls with links to WWI events. The
talks that take place and the children’s activities will be World War One themed and
there will be a WWI atmosphere through various media, including exhibitions, and
refreshments on sale.
 In addition to the actual fair on the Saturday, other events are scheduled including
schools’ work and evening lectures.
West Glamorgan Archive Service
Two exhibitions have been prepared:
 '1914-1918: Remembering our Heroes’ - Pontardawe Arts Centre - August 2014. This
is a travelling exhibition with brief biographies of six men from West Glamorgan who
we remember as heroes from the First World War (four from Swansea, one from
Pontardawe and one from Port Talbot). Three of them won the Victoria Cross, two
the Military Cross and one the Croix de Guerre. All of them displayed extreme acts
of bravery and self-sacrifice in the course of their duties. The exhibition encourages
us to consider the qualities of character that make a hero and to examine why
heroes are important to us for our own self-image. This aspect is reinforced by the
supporting online content for the exhibition.
 '1914-1918: Some Things we Forgot to Remember'- Neath Civic Centre - August
2014. This exhibition takes a different look at the War and some of its less well
known aspects. The title panel shows a British soldier alongside a soldier from the
British Indian Army, a reminder that 43,000 Indians died in the First World War
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fighting for Britain and the Empire. Other panels look from the local historian’s
perspective at the role of women, the treatment of conscientious objectors, Belgian
refugees and the development of remembrance. A final panel looks at the effects of
the War on the Middle East with its present day consequences for the refugee
communities that have found sanctuary in the UK. Once again supporting online
content encourages the audience to delve deeper into these hidden histories.
Both of the exhibitions will be on display at Swansea Civic Centre (20 th Oct – 17TH
Nov 2014)