On Saturday 2nd November 2024 Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum will host a First World War-themed family day from 12pm to 5pm. 2024 marks 110 years since the outbreak of the Great War, while the county military museum also celebrates 10 years since it first opened. The event aims to commemorate this and help families discover more about Oxfordshire’s contribution to events that changed the world and the stories of local people caught up in them.
First World War activities will be open to all the family, with an illustration workshop focused on wartime animals, and an opportunity to make your own ‘Princess Mary’ tin, like those gifted to soldiers from Christmas 1914.
During the event, the museum’s galleries will be open alongside a range of WW1 living history displays to help immerse visitors in the period. The Great War Society, Britain’s longest-running First World War living history group, will portray soldiers from the county regiment (The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry) throughout different stages of the conflict. Those dropping in will also see interpretations of French soldiers from Volontaires Etrangers, offering a different perspective on the ’War to End All Wars’.
The museum’s permanent displays cover some of the many different fronts on which the war was fought, from the western front to Mesopotamia (now Iraq), while a re-created trench dugout offers visitors a chance to walk through history, with equipment and clothing for families to handle and even try on.
Alongside living history, there will be opportunities to find out more about local and family history with a number of displays from other museums and heritage organisations, including the Western Front Association, Chipping Norton Museum, Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, and the Royal Army Chaplains’ Museum.
Great War historian and author Helen Frost will also be attending, promoting her new book Voices from the Great War: Women’s Land Army, with signed copies available, alongside a fascinating display of Land Girls’ uniforms and photographs to help tell their often-overlooked First World War story.
Those with a family story from the First World War and objects to share will find museum staff and volunteers on hand to discuss these and accept donations to the museum’s collections, preserving Oxfordshire’s military heritage for future generations. The museum is particularly interested in objects from the First World War with a person or story associated with them that ties to the county itself, or one of the county’s regiments, The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry or Oxfordshire Yeomanry.
During the First World War Family Day the museum will not charge its standard admission prices for entry, instead visitors will be encouraged to pay what they can as entry will be by donation. All proceeds will support the museum’s 10th anniversary fundraising campaign, helping to ensure the museum can continue to look after and expand its collections while preserving and sharing Oxfordshire’s military and wartime stories.
Blenheim Palace, just a short walk from Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, is kindly supporting this event, providing additional car parking for visitors on their site throughout.
