Thetford Library hosts team from Their Finest Hour to help collect World War Two memories

A national campaign to collect and preserve memories and items from World War Two is coming to Thetford Library at the weekend in the hope to add more to its collection.

Their Finest Hour, a team based at the University of Oxford and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, is trying to gain everyday stories and objects of the conflict for future generations.

The team are hosting a Digital Collection Day at the Raymond Street library on Saturday, between 11am to 3pm.

Councillor Margaret Dewsbury, Norfolk County Council’s cabinet member for communities, said: “People sacrificed so much during World War Two and at the same time welcomed Americans of the USAAF to our county.

“As the living memory of the conflict dies, we need to remember and record the experiences of East Anglia at that time, and we are proud to be working with the University of Oxford to help gather these stories.”

At the Digital Collection Day, stories about 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.

The project team is especially interested in collecting contributions from people from underrepresented backgrounds to increase the diversity of people benefiting from World War Two heritage.

If you have any questions about the Thetford event, please contact americanlibrary@norfolk.gov.uk or for more information about the project, go to the Their Finest Hour website.