WW1 exhibition and re-enactment at Laverton

AFTER months of hard work and planning, Westbury’s Great War Commemoration Group’s WW1 exhibition at the Laverton begins next week and they say it is set to be a brilliant two weeks of history.

Cllr David Jenkins, chair of the working group said, “There will be a  series of exhibitions at The Laverton. We will also be visiting most of our local schools with a re-enactment of a WW1 recruitment event which actually happened in the Market Place in 1915, which will give our children and younger people a fun and different way to learn about some aspects of WW1.”

There will be a series of free displays and exhibitions at the Laverton including the Wiltshire at War Exhibition, the Wall of Remembrance and a Westbury-related display by local group Wiltshire Soldiers.

Cllr Stephen Andrews, a member of the committee said, “The Wiltshire Council’s Wall of Remembrance consists of small crosses to signify each soldier from Wiltshire who died in the Great War. There are over 10,000 crosses spread over 20 panels. This shows the enormous sacrifice from a county that was then, as now, a rural community with a very low population.

“The display by Wiltshire Soldiers will be contained within a mock-up of a command bunker from the Great War and will contain memorabilia and artefacts from that conflict. There will also be pictures and biographies of some of the soldiers and sailors from Westbury who died in the conflict.”

As well as an opportunity to research your family history with the Westbury Family History Society, there will be a re-enactment of a recruiting event which will be held at The Laverton on Saturday 11th July. WW1 soldiers, the mayor, cllr David Bradshaw, and a drummer from the 1st Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment will collect potential recruits of all ages, both male and female, in the High Street and march them up to The Laverton where they will meet a recruiting sergeant, be put through their paces by a doctor, fitted for a uniform before finally being allocated to a regiment. Potential nurses will learn basic first aid and how to bandage wounds.

For more information regarding opening times visit the Westbury Town Council website at www.westburytowncouncil.gov.uk or call Julie Dyer on 01373 822232.