World War I - Exhibition Project

The First World War

Has faded from living memory and yet its effects are still felt today in families and communities around the World. On the Isle of Wight all families were affected by the Great War, which proved to be a long and often painful road from the Victorian and Edwardian eras to more recent times.

 

Society

The war changed much in society and provided a spur to the development of new technologies. The Island saw growing confidence among women who had taken up often physical and dangerous jobs in war industries, shipbuilding and munitions and served as nurses abroad and at home. Their war experiences helped them to get the vote for women, develop their independence and begin to address the inequities of a highly stratified social class structure.

 

Technology

The needs of the Forces for new weaponry and communications demanded a great deal from the Island’s industries. From ship and boat building traditions came aircraft, fast boats and eventually rockets and satellites.

 

Exhibition

This exhibition explores some of these innovations over the past 100 years.

​

See the full exhibition below