Gateways to the First World War

About Us

Gateways to the First World War is a centre for public engagement with the Great War centenary, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Our aim is to encourage and support public interest in the centenary through a range of events and activities such as open days and study days, advice on access to materials and expertise, and signposting for other resources and forms of support.

Watch our short films:
Gateways at Broadwater Farm and Not Far from the Front.

A Global Conflict: Colonial Peoples in the First World War

Event

Gateways Event

A free Gateways to the First World War study day at the University of Kent.

Troops of the South African Native Labour Corps around a brazier at their camp. Dannes, March 1917. © IWM (Q 4875)
From Children's Home to Soldiers' Hospital: Chailey Heritage in the First World War

Event

On Thursday 4th February Chailey Heritage Foundation is opening its doors to the local community for a captivating talk on its history, and an opportunity to learn about the work the charity does today.

Image reproduced with permission of the Chailey Heritage Foundation.
Lowther’s Lambs at The Boar’s Head

Event

Organised by East Sussex County Council First World War Commemorations

On 30 June 1916 the men of the Southdowns Battalions, ‘Lowther’s Lambs’, went over the top at ‘The Boar’s Head’, near Richebourg in France. What happened next has become known as ‘The Day that Sussex Died’.
'Keeping the Peace: Working Relationships and the Friends' Ambulance Unit in the First World War', a talk by Dr Rebecca Wynter

Event

Gateways Event

Organised by Gateways to the First World War

In August 1914, the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) was established by Quakers, a faith group with firm pacifist principles.
Professor Albert Grundlingh seminar (Brighton): Mutating Memories and the Making of a Wartime Myth in South Africa: Remembering the SS Mendi disaster, 1917-2007

Event

Gateways Event

Organised by Gateways to the First World War

Supported by Gateways to the First World War

The SS Mendi, carrying the last detachment of the South African Native Labour Contingent to work as non-combatants in France during the First World War, sank just off the Isle of Wight on 21st February 1917.

About Us

A Global Conflict: Colonial Peoples in the First World War

From Children's Home to Soldiers' Hospital: Chailey Heritage in the First World War

Lowther’s Lambs at The Boar’s Head

'Keeping the Peace: Working Relationships and the Friends' Ambulance Unit in the First World War', a talk by Dr Rebecca Wynter

Professor Albert Grundlingh seminar (Brighton): Mutating Memories and the Making of a Wartime Myth in South Africa: Remembering the SS Mendi disaster, 1917-2007