Children help document a Wiltshire town’s memories of World War II

The everyday life of the people of Melksham during the Second World War was recorded in a book with the help of schoolchildren.

Melksham’s War is a diary of life in the Wiltshire town between 1939 and 1945, researched and developed by local history group Melksham Remembers.

Pupils from Melksham Oak Community School contributed a chapter and the book also includes artwork and letters from primary school children.

“It allowed me to talk about my relationship with World War II because my great-grandfather is still alive and so I wrote about what he told me about the war,” said 15-year-old Grace Winter.

“We are delighted that our students were able to help bring (the book) to life,” said Haris Hussain, principal of Melksham Oak.

The project is part of an ongoing relationship between the school and the history group.

Another student involved in the project, 15-year-old Zuzanna Medrek, said: “My parents always wanted to educate me about the war because we come from Poland.”

“I thought it was a really interesting subject to write about, especially the struggles of people who had no voice at the time.

“I thought it would be a nice way to express it through poetry.”

Michael Maguire, Head of Humanities, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity to open students’ eyes to the history of Melksham and the wider community and to make them aware of the fact that they have contributed to a book that will now be preserved for posterity.”

In 2018, Melksham Remembers curated a one-off exhibition to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War and subsequently produced a book, with schoolchildren involved in recording an audio version.

Ray Heard of the history group said: “Melksham’s War is a wonderful testament to the strength, determination and solidarity of our local community at an extremely difficult time.”

“There were some surprises, particularly the changes in society, education, agriculture and engineering in Melksham brought about by the war.”

“We can all be proud of that,” he added.