DORCHESTER’S Keep Military Museum has been given a major funding boost for a project to celebrate the sacrifices of local soldiers in the First World War.

The museum has been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £51,900 for a project to commemorate the centenary of The Great War.

It will aim to promote a greater understanding of the conflict and pay tribute to the sacrifice of the people of Devon and Dorset.

Museum curator Colin Parr said the new project will help tell the stories of what people went through all those years ago.

He said: “Supported by a new imaginative gallery and learning area, our volunteers will create an online history gallery which will include a contributory archive for people wishing to share their history with us.

“The museum will be part of an education focus group dedicated to supporting schools in the area and online.”

The Bridport Road attraction is the only military museum for the regiments of the two counties and is home to thousands of original and unique exhibits including a desk that belonged to Adolf Hitler.

It also houses hundreds of items from the First World War, which will come into focus next year as the nation marks one hundred years since the conflict began.

Charles Cooper, project manager at the Keep Military Museum, said: “This is very good news and we are delighted to have received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to commemorate and really promote a greater awareness and understanding of The Great War.

“We will be preeminent during the commemoration and joining up with other museums in the county to bring greater awareness.

“We appeal really to the people of Dorset, particularly those interested in The Great War, to come and join our core of volunteers here at the Keep, which will help us to deal with the anticipated levels of activity and enhance our sustainability.”

Nerys Watts, the Heritage Lottery Fund’s head of South West, added: “All communities living in the UK have been affected by the First World War in some way, either by the events that took place, or by the changes it brought about.

“We are keen to support projects that, like this one, enable local people to understand more about the heritage of the First World War and how it touched and changed their community.”