Derry event aims to preserve Second World War memories

The free event is part of a 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.

Stories of the Second World War are fast fading from living memory, so 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 and journals – 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.

Dr Stuart Lee, project leader, said: “We’re delighted to be able to create an archive of memories of the Second World War. We know from previous projects that people have so many wonderful objects, photos, and anecdotes which have been passed down from family members which are at risk of getting lost or being forgotten. Our aim is to empower local communities to digitally preserve these stories and objects before they are lost to posterity.”

Further information about the event can be found here: https://theirfinesthour.english.ox.ac.uk/event/ulster-university-magee-campus.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact [email protected].

If you can't make it to the event, you can upload your stories and photos of objects directly to the archive by clicking 'Share Your Story' on the the project website (theirfinesthour.org).