MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands remembers WWI volunteers at the Great War exhibition in the Museum

Islander Ernest Gleadell’s medal and service card

The Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust have opened the Voices from the Great War exhibition to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

  The exhibition puts special emphasis on the role of the Falklands in the war, in particular Islanders who signed up to fight and especially the 22 who lost their lives in the war (14 having travelled to Europe to fight, eight as members of the Falkland Islands Volunteer Corps).

Those who paid the ultimate price were remembered on the opening night in a presentation by students from the community school, who spoke of where those soldiers had served and, ultimately, where they had perished.

The exhibition includes a range of displays and information of the effect of the war on the Islands, including the then Governor William Allardyce’s proclamation as commander in chief of the Falkland Island Volunteer Corps for all members to assemble.

The exhibition also displays a number of personal artifacts from Islanders who served in the war, including service medals and touching letters penned from the front. The exhibition is expected to run for a year. (Penguin News).