THE centenary of the outbreak of the First World War will be marked during Kidderminster’s annual heritage weekend.

The Kidderminster Heritage Opportunities Group will make the anniversary the focus of the event this year on Saturday and Sunday, September 13 and 14.

An exhibition called The People’s War will be held in the Corn Exchange, next to Kidderminster Town Hall, on the Saturday, which will show the work of the area’s historians, schools and other groups on life in the town between 1914 and 1918. The display will then be moved to the Museum of Carpet, Green Street.

Group spokesman Colin Hill said: “The four years of war had an enormous impact upon the town and the lives of its people. It was truly the first people’s war in our history.

“Between 4,000 and 5,000 Kidderminster men volunteered for, or were called into, active service during these years and, of these, 672 would not come home.

As well as this, every aspect of life in Kidderminster was touched by the war.”

Talking about the exhibition, he added: “We hope to involve the people of our town as much as possible in the content of the exhibition.

“We invite any family or townsperson who has anything which they would like to contribute towards the exhibition, to get in touch with us.

“This could be knowledge about grandparents’ or great grandparents’ experiences, stories about the war which have been told in the family over generations or more tangible evidence, such as photographs, letters or post - cards, or other items from that time which families may have.”

E-mail hogs 1418@gmail.com or visit the Museum of Carpet or the town hall.