Lancaster University launches map of First World War dead
Local-history researchers across the UK are being encouraged to add the names of those killed fighting in the First World War to a new online map.
Mapping Loss: Communities in War and Peace ( wp.lancs.ac.uk/greatwar) was launched by Lancaster University to mark Remembrance Day on 11 November.
The map is covered with digital ‘pins’ that reveal the name, address, age and date of death of those who were killed.
It already has detailed records from Lancashire and a handful of individuals from other parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Dr Corinna Peniston-Bird, part of the team behind the project, said: “We would love to ensure that all projects completed in towns and villages across Britain over the past six years have this way of sharing and visualising their data for the use of families, schools, researchers, and genealogists locally, nationally and, indeed, internationally.”
Historians are invited to add their findings to the map by uploading a spreadsheet that contains the details of any dead soldiers they’ve researched.
One of the most touching stories already on the website is that of Ernest Shaw from Chorley in Lancashire. Tragically, he died in hospital in Salonica just hours after the Armistice was announced on 11 November 1918.