People who think that Marlborough had no involvement in the First World War would be wrong, as an exhibition in the Merchants House tells many unexpected and fascinating stories about the town’s connection to the war.

The exhibition has been curated by local historian Roger Day, Rob and Angie Dickens, Dan Miles and Michael Gray, to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the outbreak of war.

Last November the curators held an event in the town hall to encourage Marlborough residents to bring artefacts from the First Word War and the exhibition is the result of that project.

Mr Day said: “We decided that with the 100th anniversary coming up Marlborough ought to have some sort of display and this seemed the obvious place so we approached the Merchants House and they were very excited by it.”

Among the artefacts on display are posters, photographs, uniforms, medals and trench art.

The exhibition also tells the stories of people who had a connection to Marlborough during the First World War.

One of those people was Private Fredrick Percy Osmond who joined the 7th battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment, which spent the first six months of its existence training in Marlborough.

Another is Beatrice Bull who lived in George Lane and worked as a nanny for the Frees Family.

While walking around the town she met a lot of the soldiers and kept a notebook, which is on display, with details of the units she met.

In Ramsbury there was a prisoner of war camp, run by Lieutenant Fred Burn, with just over 50 prisoners and among those was German sailor Philipp Holderfehr.

He was on the SS Königin Luise, the first vessel sunk by the navy in the First World War, and he was taken prisoner on August 5, 1914 until the end of the war.

Mr Day said: “I didn’t realise that there was all this going on.

“There were trench systems on the Marlborough Downs which they dug as practice trenches for two reasons, practice for digging the trenches because they had to know how to do it properly and practice defending it.”

The exhibition is open every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 11am-4pm until November. From November 10 until December 20 it will be open every day except Sundays.

n Last weekend the Bedwyn History Society organised an open archive event to commemorate the First World War and the 80th anniversary of Bedwyn’s Women’s Institute.

More than 220 visitors came to see an exhibition which was made up of 30 display panels, 20 exhibits as well as First World War books and magazines .

Exhibits included a trench telescope, an officer’s leather boots, worn by the grandfather of Bedwyn resident Phyllida Nash, who died in action in 1915, and a Brodie helmet worn by John T Lloyd, grandfather of John Lloyd of the village stonemasons.