Date of publication: 02/11/2012
The Museum of the Manchester Regiment is developing an exhibitionthat tells the stories of generations of Manchester regiment soldiers between1756 and 1958, including many from the 1914-18 period. Funded by a grant fromthe Esme Fairbairn Collections Fund, the project will uncover the personallives of approximately eight hundred servicemen whose 2200 medals form part ofthe Museums permanent collection.
The project, which is set to be completed in Autumn 2013,will provide an insight into the lives of the servicemen both in the museumitself and through a specially developed website. Once the research has beencompleted, an individual webpage will be created for the biographies of themedal holder. A fourteen-volume hardcopy of the biographies will also beprinted.
Relatives of the servicemenwhose medals are part of the collection are encouraged to come forward with anyrelevant personal documentation and photographs. As curator Garry Smith comments: We didnt justwant to talk about the army, we wanted to put a whole picture of the lives ofthese men together. Family participation has really enhanced the project sofar.
To find out more about The Man Behind the Medals Project, click here
To find out more about the local history of the area, clickhere
Images courtesy of the Man Behind the Medals Project website.