2014 sees the centenary of the start of World War 1 “the war to end all wars”. There are many general resources about WW1 available on the web and some of them are listed at the bottom of this page. But first here are some that are specific to our village.

Village specific resources

WW1 Roll of HonourThe WW1 Roll of Honour for the village can be found near the lockup and war memorial. It has a list of everyone who served in the war, with their rank and regiment. To get to a webpage that contains all this information click here.

 

From that webpage you can also get to a webpage for each man who died in the war with more detail about them. Much of this information came from Brian Thompson’s book, but some came from original research our local history group prepared for a display at the patronal festival of June 2014 about the village in the Great War.

To Remember Them....The most interesting and moving resource is a document called “To Remember Them…”, which is dedicated to the memory of the men from Holywell-cum-Needingworth who died during the Great War, in the Service of their country. This was prepared in 1984 by Brian Thompson, and transcribed into its present format by Peter Cooper.

 

Unfortunately I have not been able to find out who Brian was, nor how he was connected to the village. This also means that I have been unable to obtain Brian’s permission to publish this document, but I hope you understand and welcome it getting a wider audience. If you know anything about Brian Thompson then please do let us know, as I would like to thank him for all his work.

If you would like to view or download this document you can do so here.

General resources

BBC History of World War 1A good place to start exploring WW1 is the BBC History of World War 1 site. It has links to many other resources. You can get to it by clicking here.
Every Man RememberedThe Royal British Legion is working with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to keep alive the memory of those who fell in the First World War, for future generations. They would like every single man and woman from across the Commonwealth who fell to be individually commemorated by those alive today, and they are doing it via the “Every Man Remembered” site. You can get to it by clicking here.
Lives of the First World WarIn the website “Lives of the First World War” the Imperial War Museum are aiming to build a Permanent Digital Memorial to all who contributed during the First World War. You can get to it by clicking here.
World War I Centenary: Continuations and BeginningsThe website “World War I Centenary: Continuations and Beginnings” is building a substantial collection of learning resources available for global reuse, much of it specially created by the University of Oxford and partner academics. As an Open Educational Resource it supports new directions in teaching World War I. You can get to it by clicking here.
World War I Every Day“World War I Every Day” is a video that shows changing front lines of World War I every day from Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war to the armistice, and also the changing front lines in Africa and the Pacific. You can get to it by clicking here.