Chance to meet the Tommy at Walsall Museum
Date Published : 03 July 2008
Historical re-enactors will be helping people understand what life was like in the First World War’s trenches when they visit Walsall Museum.
The Discover History group will be staging the Meet the Tommy event on Saturday July 5 from 11am until 3pm.
Tommy was the name given to British private soldiers. Where trench lines separating British and German soldiers were feet apart, notes would sometimes be tossed into the British line addressed to “Tommy.”
Shouts of “Hey Tommy” would also go across the lines.
Visitors will be able to learn about the unpleasant living conditions in the trenches, the crafts soldiers used to pass the time and the fear and terror of enemy attacks and being sent over the top.
They will also have the chance to handle examples of artefacts relating to the period.
The event being staged by the re-enactors, who are from Worcester, is part of the museum’s Walk in the Park exhibition exploring the history of the borough’s parks and green spaces.
Visitors to the exhibition can learn about the history of Willenhall Memorial Park, a green urban oasis which was created in the 1920s as a tribute to the many local men who lost their lives in the First World War.
Those behind the creation of the park were widely acclaimed for the way in which a derelict industrial site was transformed into a popular recreation spot for the people of Willenhall.
Meet the Tommy is free of charge and visitors can call in at any time during the event.
Contact us
Walsall Museum
Telephone 01922 653116