Children to tell Tommies tales in our First World War competition

21 Oct 2014 12:35 PM

We are launching Telling Tommies' tales, a competition open to primary school-aged children across the UK to discover and interpret some of the records in our First World War collection. 

Getting creative

Using a box of letters from staff of the Great Western Railway office in Paddington, London (catalogue reference: RAIL 253/516), children are invited to create something inspired by their interpretations of soldiers' personal accounts of the war. This can be anything from a drawing, poem or cartoon to a TV report, an audio diary or even a short film.

Clare Horrie, Online Education Manager at The National Archives, said: 'Our Telling Tommies' Tales competition allows primary school children to explore the original letters that were penned by the soldiers themselves and spark their creative flare by making something inspired by what they've read. Children will be able to take an active part in learning about the everyday lives of soldiers in the First World War and explore history from the front line.'

Competition details

Children can enter as a group or individual. Entries close on 31 January 2015. We will judge entries according to each school year group (year 3 to year 6). We will announce winners on 12 February 2015.

First prize is a £20 book token and a gift pack of First World War related goodies worth £25 (runner up will receive a gift pack).

We will show the winning entries, and other highly commended entries, on our website and social media channels.

Find full details of how to enter, terms and conditions and the digitised documents on our Telling Tommies' Tales competition page.