The Great War Archive

Welcome to The Great War Archive, a major project run by the University of Oxford. The aim of this initiative was to collect together material related to the First World War held by members of the public to help keep the memory alive of the sacrifices made during World War One. The final collection will be made available free of charge via the Web on the 11th November 2008, the 90th anniversary of the Armistice.

Contribute

The deadline for contributions has now passed. However, you can still share any images that you have by posting them to our Flickr Group. This group will be linked to from our website and if we reopen the archive for contributions we will contact you. To post to the group you will need to set up a free Flickr account.

Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this initiative and we look forward to your visit in November. In the meantime do have a look at the to see a selection of some of the many items that have been submitted.

Editor's pick

James Ryan

James Ryan was 6ft tall and looked older which was why he was accepted as a volunteer at just 16 years of age. He joined the Royal Field Artillery as a Gunner (service no. 1385) and was mobilised on the 4th August 1914 from Southampton to Alexandria. He travelled to Cairo, Ismailia, Kantarah, Albania, Port Said and into Turkey, fighting in Gallipoli and the Dardanelles with the '1st/1st Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, 1/4th East Lancs. Battery, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. A spell at home he returned to fight in France and Belgium. In a letter home he stated that 'there isn't a bullet with my name on', which proved correct when Jim was killed by Mustard Gas on 30th September 1917 at the 3rd battle of Passchendale on the Menin Road. He is buried at the Mendingham cemetery where his headstone shows his age as 22yrs old which is incorrect as he had lied about his age when he volunteered.

This photograph is part of a collection contributed to the Great War Archive by Simon Green on behalf of his mother Edna, James' younger sister, who still remembers and grieves for her brother 'jim-jim'.

To see other editor's picks visit the blog.