THEIR FINEST HOUR: SECOND WORLD WAR
DIGITAL COLLECTION DAY
Date: Saturday 7th October 2023
“Leamington, thank you!” An absolutely phenomenal turn out from Leamington’s public and our numerous Leamington History Group volunteers for our very own Their Finest Hour.
Many of us have Second World War-related stories and objects that have been passed down to us from our parents, grandparents and other family members. Their Finest Hour, a University of Oxford project launched in July 2022 and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, aims to empower local communities to digitally preserve these stories and objects before they are lost to posterity.
Our event was on Saturday 7th October. Not only did we hear about life in the war, we had a doll brought back from Dunkirk by a Dad for his daughter, an Evacuee sent to a dangerous place, a Dad serving in India and a Mum who worked at Bletchley Park.
And then, 100-year-old local Lancaster pilot just pops in, as you do … watch this space!
If anyone has other stories they would like to share, you can either visit another national event happening around the country, or upload directly onto the website https://theirfinesthour.english.ox.ac.uk/home or contact chair@leamingtonhistory.co.uk. Please do spread the word!
We have now captured over 50 special stories and objects about World War 2. We were joined by the excellent Trinity Catholic School Humanities students who were involved throughout the day in interviewing the public.
There was a fine display by the Royal Warwickshire Re-enactment Group, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Museum (Royal Warwickshire), and Martin D Harrison, who manned the WW2 Medal Information desk.
All digitised stories and objects will be free to access via the Project website from 6th June 2024.
The Interview Table
Some items and pictures on the day —
