Studley Historians have been working on a national project co-ordinated by Oxford University. Many items from the Second World War, safely preserved in attics and cupboards, are at risk of being lost, damaged or the family connections and stories forgotten. To preserve what we can, our Historians put together a community event that was held this week.

Members of our school community and our wider neighbours were invited to come into school with their items from WWII. Here they were interviewed by our students about the items and how they linked to their families. We found some fantastic items, some of which we had never heard of before! A set of family medals, soldier’s pay books, torpedo inspection records and any number of personal photographs have highlighted the rich history in our community, and our local links to this global event. One family shared with us a blanket that had been fashioned from a parachute, saved and brought back from the war.

Redditch Library were also on hand with an amazing selection of WWII related items kept in the archives underneath Redditch Library. Julia and Maureen were so engaging and our students were able to delve into the history of our area, handling original items like field dressings and Land Army uniforms!

The items we saw have been photographed and documented by our students, and will now go into the Oxford digital archive. This archive will go live in June 2024, and be made available to researchers across the world.

We are really proud of our students who took a leading role in organising the event, welcoming people to our school and diligently recording this fascinating history for the historians of future generations.