PM pledges to make Great War centenary ‘a national moment’

The Prime Minister said there would be events in 2014 to mark 100 years since the outbreak, Armistice Day in 2018, and the dates of major battles in between.

There will also be a £5m educational programme for school pupils, including trips to battlefields, and support for an overhaul of the Imperial War Museum.

Speaking at the museum in south London yesterday, Mr Cameron said an advisory board of former defence secretaries, chiefs of staff and military specialists would bring together ideas for the commemorations.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is also supporting work by young people to “conserve, explore and share local heritage of the First World War”. Some £50m was being spent on the commemorations in total, Mr Cameron said.

The commemorations will include the centenary of the first day of conflict on August 4, 2014, the start of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 2016, and further events to mark Jutland, Gallipoli, Passchendaele and Armistice Day in 2018.

Mr Cameron said: “The Centenary will also provide the foundations upon which to build an enduring cultural and educational legacy to put young people front and centre in our commemoration and to ensure that the sacrifice and service of 100 years ago is still remembered in 100 years time.”

The Heritage Lottery Fund was inviting more applications for support to mark First World War events, he said.

“Whether it’s a series of friendly football matches to mark the 1914 Christmas Day Truce, or the campaign by the Greenhithe branch of the Royal British Legion to sow the Western Front’s iconic poppies here in the UK, let’s get out there and make this centenary a truly national moment in every community in our land.”

The Prime Minister said it was important to mark the First World War because of the “sheer scale of sacrifice”, with more than 16m dead.

The war had also helped “make us who we are today”, he added, pointing to subsequent advances in the emancipation of women, recognition for ethnic minorities and improvements in medicine.

He went on: “There is something about the First World War that makes it a fundamental part of our national consciousness.

“Put simply, this matters – not just in our heads, but in our hearts. It has an emotional connection. I feel it very deeply.”

The Treasury yesterday committed an additional £5m to a £35m refurbishment of the Imperial War Museum’s First World War galleries. The money will come from fines imposed on financial services companies for misconduct.

The galleries will open in the summer of 2014, as part of a transformed museum, while there will also be a major temporary exhibition at IWM North in Trafford.

Mr Cameron said he hoped the national commemorations would provide a boost to Anglo-Irish reconciliation – with plans to join Irish premier Enda Kenny on a visit to Belgian battlefields which claimed many Irish lives.

He found it “staggering” how many people from the island of Ireland volunteered to fight in the First World War.