Remembrance

On 11 November 1918, the Armistice was signed between the Allied and German armies, ending the First World War – a global conflict that lasted four years, extinguishing millions of lives.

Somme film (c) IWMN

Archive footage of the conflict shown at the Imperial War Museum North includes:

- Somme: extracts from the UNESCO World Heritage Status film, The Battle of the Somme showing Lancashire Fusiliers moving up to the front line;

- Trench Food: soldiers in the trenches surviving on hot soup in the winter

'Horrible Histories - Frightful First World War'

The main family event at the Museum is ‘Horrible Histories: Frightful First World War’- a special exhibition based on Terry Deary’s best-selling history books for children.

Horrible Histories (c) Martin Brown

Words and illustrations from Deary’s books appear alongside the Museum’s permanent collections to tell the stories of the men and women, servicemen and civilians, who shaped and endured what was described as ‘the war to end all wars.’

Highlights include Kaiser Wilhelm II’s greatcoat (especially made to accommodate his shorter left arm); the helmet which King George V wore to visit the Western Front; a letter from war poet Siegfried Sassoon, written while being treated for shell shock; original signs from trenches and the 13-pounder field gun that fired Britain’s very first shell of the First World War

• Horrible Histories: Frightful First World War runs until 4th January 2009 at the Imperial War Museum North on Trafford Wharf Rd.