Leeds Stories of the Great War

The First World War is too often exclusively remembered through the lens of trench experiences on the Western Front. A key aim of the project 'Legacies of War 1914-1918/2014-18' at the University of Leeds, from which this project arises, is to draw attention to diversity of experience and of the ever-present cultural, social and technological legacies of the conflict in order to broaden its meaning for a wide range of different audiences. One of the key ways in which communities engage with the heritage of the First World War is through the uncovering of local stories as a way of understanding the war as an international conflict. This project aims to uncover ways in which the war touched the everyday life, communal politics, social relations, culture and values of citizens who inhabited their street, town or region in 1914-18, the traces, memories, monuments, documents and culture it left behind, and the ways in which the mass displacement of populations during the war brought about contact with those of different social groups, nationalities and ethnicities.

Leeds as a city was vital to the British war effort. It lost more men than the national average; equally, as a key industrial centre, Leeds factories and industries played an indispensable role in supplying the British troops and civilians during the war. Leeds residents also contributed in other ways: its households took in Belgian refugees; its hospitals cared for thousands of wounded soldiers from Britain (and its then Empire); its growing numbers of theatres, cinemas and music-halls catered for a war-weary population in need of entertainment. Today, in the Liddle Collection, University of Leeds, the West Yorkshire Archives (now in Morley), and Leeds Central Library, Leeds houses the most important collections of archival materials on the First World War outside of London.

One of the key aims of the 'Legacies of War 1914-18/2014-18 project' is to facilitate an innovative, cross-cultural and intergenerational approach to the commemoration of the First World War. 'Leeds Stories of the Great War' aims to do this in a concrete way via a series of small co-produced research projects carried out by intergenerational Leeds community groups (consisting, for example, of sixth-formers, older people and former factory employees), collaborating with community facilitators, artists, local history experts and university academics. Taken together, the research findings of these projects will discover key aspects of Leeds life during the war, which will be made widely accessible in innovative ways to the public during the Centenary period, and will be stored in the form of a digital archive for future generations.

This project has clear potential for impact on beneficiaries among the wider public, particularly amongst Leeds residents. It will benefit local communities by facilitating exchange and communication between different groups (such as older people and schoolchildren/sixth-formers). In generating interest in the heritage and history of residents' local area, it will help the local authority in their key strategic aims to foster a sense of belonging amongst different communities, to engage residents in local cultural opportunities, and to raise the profile of Leeds nationally and internationally (see attached Letter of Support from Leeds City Council). Many of our proposed research groups are in Seacroft in East Leeds. In the latest Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) this area was ranked 120 out of 32,482 in England, where 1 was the most deprived and 32,482 the least. This means this project has the possibility of improving access to services and increasing well-being and a sense of belonging in communities that have traditionally been harder to reach. The research will also be of interest to performing artists - Project Space Leeds, one of the groups with whom we are working, for example, will seek to commission Leeds-based artists to engage with the research findings of the heritage groups.