Coventry Cathedral call out for Second World War stories and objects for new digital archive

Coventry Cathedral is looking for stories and memorabilia to add to a new digital archive about the Second World War. The Cathedral is collecting stories as part of a nationwide campaign on the 9th September, during Heritage Open Days 2023.

The campaign is organised by Their Finest Hour, a team based at the University of Oxford and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is aiming to collect and preserve everyday stories and objects from the Second World War.

Items such as diaries, letters, photographs, memoirs, objects or stories about your family’s experience in the war are all wanted for the archive. Anyone wanted to add a memory to the archive can bring them to Coventry Cathedral’s Digital Collection Day.

A spokesperson for Coventry Cathedral said: “Any, from the extraordinary to the seemingly ‘ordinary’. We want our archive to reflect the diverse experiences of all those affected by the war: men and women across the British Empire and the Commonwealth who worked in industry, on the land, or in other roles; ran households and fought a daily battle of rationing; served in or supported the armed forces; and even those who refused to go to war for political or religious reasons.

“We are also interested in preserving children’s experiences of the war and would like to hear about any relatives who refused to talk about their wartime experience.”

The Digital Collection Day will take place on September 9, 2023, at Coventry Cathedral. Volunteers will be on hand to collect and archive the items from 11am to 3.30pm.

The digital archive will be free to use online. However, the Cathedral has asked people not to bring any loaded weapons or potentially dangerous objects to the Digital Collection Day.

How to get involved

Do you have any Second World War-related stories and objects passed down to you from your parents, grandparents and other family members? Would you like to share and preserve these objects and stories for future generations?

The event is part of a nationwide campaign organised by Their Finest Hour, a team based at the University of Oxford and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which is collecting and preserving the everyday stories and objects of the Second World War.

As these stories are fast fading from living memory, it is vital that they – and the wartime objects that often accompany them – are preserved for future generations.

At the Digital Collection Day, stories about your family’s wartime experience – and associated objects such as diaries, letters, medals, journals and ration books – will be recorded, digitised, and then uploaded to the Their Finest Hour online archive, which will be free-to-use and launch in June 2024.

What kinds of war-related stories and objects are Coventry Cathedral looking for?

Any, from the extraordinary to the seemingly ‘ordinary’. We want our archive to reflect the diverse experiences of all those affected by the war: men and women across the British Empire and the Commonwealth who worked in industry, on the land, or in other roles; ran households and fought a daily battle of rationing; served in or supported the armed forces; and even those who refused to go to war for political or religious reasons. We are also interested in preserving children’s experiences of the war and would like to hear about any relatives who refused to talk about their wartime experience.

If you have any questions, please email events@coventrycathedral.org.uk

*Please do not bring any loaded weapons or potentially dangerous objects to the Digital Collection Day.