Dorchester military museum gets grant for WWI exhibition

The museum wants people to contribute their family stories

A Dorset museum has been given a £51,900 grant to help commemorate the outbreak of World War I.

The Keep Military Museum in Dorchester plans to use the money to convert a bunker into an interactive experience.

It also wants to create an online gallery of Dorset and Devon people who fought in the war, and a room for community talks and school visits.

The Keep is the only military museum for the regiments of both Dorset and Devon.

The museum, which is receiving the money from the Heritage Lottery Fund, houses thousands of original and unique exhibits, including the desk belonging to Adolf Hitler and hundreds of items from WWI.

Curator Colin Parr said they wanted to gather stories from people whose relatives had taken part in the war.

He added: "Our volunteers will create an online history gallery which will include a contributory archive for people wishing to share their history with us."

Nerys Watts, of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: "All communities living in the UK have been affected by the First World War in some way, either by the events that took place, or by the changes it brought about.

"We are keen to support projects that, like this one, enable local people to understand more about the heritage of the First World War and how it touched and changed their community."