The People's War is an amazing online BBC archive featuring wartime experiences from the frontline to the Home Front in the words and pictures of those who were there.

From air raids to rationing, doodlebugs to Digging for Victory, the BBC is marking the 60th anniversary of the end of Second World War with a campaign to gather as many firsthand testimonies, family memories and wartime photos as possible for posterity from across the UK.

BBC History launched this hugely-ambitious storygathering project so that future generations will understand what wartime was like in every walk of life - from frontline to Home Front. But it can't be done without YOUR help.

Born after 1945? You can still help

Even if you were born after 1945 you may have family photos, letters and mementoes which help paint a vivid picture of life in World War Two.

Was Mum or Gran a Land Girl, a nurse or a munitions factory worker? Or maybe Dad or Grandad was an air raid warden or one of the 'Bevin Boys' - young men conscripted to go down the mines to help keep the home fires burning instead of joining the services? Share their stories.

The People's War across the globe

We also want to know the war experiences of elders from Gloucestershire's black and minority ethnic communities, whether or not they were living in Britain at the time.

Men and women from the Commonwealth and other countries played a a huge part in the war effort.

Three million of them, nearly all volunteers, answered Britain's call to arms, and many more suffered the effects of conflict on the other side of the world before coming to settle in Britain after the war.

They include Histon 'Stan' Boreland (right), who was 18 when he responded to an advertisement 'The Mother Country Needs You' in the Jamaican Gleaner in 1944. He joined the RAF as a motorcyclist and spent the rest of his life in Gloucester after being posted to RAF Innsworth.

Join our army - of volunteers

BBC Gloucestershire needs to recruit an army of volunteers to help us collect the fascinating stories of wartime life that are still waiting to be told across the county.

Schools, youth groups, community and ex-service organisations can all get involved in the People's War in Gloucestershire.

We want to organise events where younger people can hear the stories of the older generation who went through the war. We also want to hear from anyone who knows how to use a computer who is willing to help us add stories to the People's War website.

Call the BBC Learning Centre on 01452 418180 or e-mail [email protected] to find out more.

Lottery cash up for grabs

In a separate but related scheme called Home Front Recall, there is national lottery funding - grants of between £500 and £20,000 - available to groups in Gloucestershire who want to celebrate the contribution their community made to the war effort.

BBC Gloucestershire is interested in linking up with groups in the county who are applying or have applied for funding from Home Front Recall, so the stories and reminiscences and mementoes they uncover and celebrate are also featured on the People's War.

Financed by the Big Lottery Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund, the scheme provides small grants to fund activities across the UK to commemorate the part played by those on the Home Front during the war years - among them fire fighters, auxiliary services, dock workers, seamen, nurses - and people in many other roles including Britain's code-breakers.

The scheme also provides funding for veterans who wish to organise or take part in reunions or commemorative events in the UK.

The scheme will fund street parties, services, reunions, parades, and other community activities that allow all generations to commemorate and remember the contribution that the people of Britain made in the Second World War.

For an application pack call 08457 458458 - further information is available from the Big Lottery Fund. The closing date for applications is March 31st 2005 and activities must take place before the end of the year.

People's War workshops at the BBC Learning Centre

BBC People's War

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