Culture And Memory

RNLI 1939-45: Stories of Courage

The RNLI played a unique role in the the Second World War - volunteer crews risked their lives in extremely difficult circumstances, facing enemy fire and going into the unknown - all to save lives at sea. We want to share these stories of courage with the communities they served, and beyond, but crucially we want to capture those personal stories of the crews who served, not held in the archive records, to fully understand our heritage and commemorate, celebrate and inspire others. Digitising records in our collection will preserve them but importantly to make them widely available. A digital resource will be created to share our records and to create a way for others to share their stories, images and recollections - bringing to life the history of the RNLI during WW2. There will be a full programme of engagement activities to share the project with a wide audience.