A series of oral history films was commissioned by The Lichfield Festival as part of their Learning and Participation programme in 2010. Pupils from two secondary schools in Walsall and Lichfield researched aspects of World War Two and filmed interviews with veterans and people with memories of the period. As part of their research they used archive material as well as their own investigations. Some pupils spoke with family members and people within their community. We were also helped enormously by the National Memorial Arboretum who gave the pupils a tour and arranged interviews with war veterans.
The result is 12 excellent films that were premiered at the Wedge Gallery at Lichfield College on the opening night of the Lichfield Festival. Many people were moved to tears, and Len Owens, an SAS veteran who we were privileged enough to interview was keen to praise the pupils. In my mind praise doesn’t come higher than that.
We have been experimenting with using a Blog for the project, to enable pupils to communicate with each other and share their work, so you can read more about the film making process on the Lichfield Festival Learning and Participation Blog under the category ‘Memory Box’.
Here are a couple of the films – the DVD with all twelve films was given to all participants and the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas have taken a copy to show in their Visitors’ Centre for members of the public to view.
Jack Plant – PoW on the Sumatran Railway from Rachel Gillies on Vimeo.
Philip Jones – Postcards from North Africa from Rachel Gillies on Vimeo.