A digital memorial

Imperial War Museums worked with over 160,000 members of the public during 2014‑2019 to create the Lives of the First World War website, a permanent digital memorial to more than 7.7 million people who made a contribution to the First World War.

The outreach activities engaged 15,000 people throughout the UK, including the popular BBC World War One At Home event in Rhyl in 2014, and a keynote presentation at the Digital Past conference in Newport in 2017. The engagement with the public at events and online contributed to the information, stories and images for the website.

The Lives of the First World War database has now been archived and is free to view online. Searching for keywords, names and places in the database produces thousands of results for Welsh men and women who played their part - including factory worker Lily Leaver from Aberdare, and soldiers like Walter Williams of the South Wales Borderers.

Above: IWM Lives of the First World War Logo © IWM Right: Half length portrait of David Lloyd George during a speech in Dundee, Scotland. The Liberal Lloyd George combined with the Conservatives to overthrow Asquith’s Coalition Government in December 1916, and himself assumed the office of Prime Minister. © IWM Ref: Q 70208 It serves as a permanent digital memorial to those involved in the war effort at home and abroad and allows people from Wales, the UK and beyond to discover the personal stories and lives of those affected by the First World War. Find out more: livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk