Timeline for the Great War launched

Written by John Webster and Jackie Scully.

GWlogoForncett Great War Project and the start of the Timeline was launched on Saturday 2nd August in Forncett St Peter's Church. There was an excellent number of people and a number of interesting things to see - the time line itself, a scrapbook from the First World War and a copy of the Times for the 4th August 1914, among other interesting items. 

(click pic for slideshow)

The Timeline will be in real time and building over a four year period, so initially it will feature the lead up to and the causes of WW1. Gradually information will be fed into this, such as the recruitment of volunteers from the village, snippets of village life at the time, and what was happening in the bigger picture in Norfolk, the country and on the battlefield. Eventually you will be able to track what happened to some of these men, who came home and those who died.

LotteryFundedJune 28th 1914 was the date of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary and his wife in Sarajevo. Was this the cause of WW1 and why did Britain become involved? Who were the first Forncett boys to volunteer? These are some of the answers you will find. We hope that at the end of the Project we will have a record of how WW1 affected the lives of those who lived in Forncett. It is, therefore, important that we receive any information that people may have. Already a number of people have been in touch from around Norfolk who have family members from Forncett who served in the Great War.