The Office for Veterans’ Affairs, working in partnership with Imperial War Museums (IWM), launched a project this week to record in-depth interviews with at least 40 women veterans, covering everything from why they joined up and their early training, through deployment, leadership and career progression, to family life, transition to civilian life, and what it means to identify as a veteran afterwards. It’ll span the Royal Navy, British Army and RAF, across generations and ranks, and the finished collection will be preserved permanently in IWM’s archive. Applications for higher education institutions or charities to work on the project will launch on 11 August, and deadline is 22 September.
Further education institutions, historians and charities are invited to help record the new archive alongside IWM.
Applications can be made at: https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/an-official-oral-history-of-women-veterans-in-the-uk-1
The Minister for Veterans and People has made a firm commitment to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions made by women veterans throughout their service in the UK Armed Forces. This commitment forms part of the UK Government’s Veterans Strategy, which includes a commitment to commission a new oral history project dedicated to capturing and preserving the diverse experiences of women veterans.
The primary objective of this project is to create an official, comprehensive and digitised oral history collection documenting the lived experiences of women who have served in the UK Armed Forces. This collection will be preserved for future generations as a lasting resource for education, research and public understanding. The project will ensure that the experiences and perspectives of women veterans are formally recognised and become part of the UK’s military heritage.
The project is expected to produce a range of outputs, which may include interview recordings, written transcripts, digital resources, exhibitions and educational materials for schools, universities and community settings. These outputs should reflect the breadth and diversity of women veterans’ experiences, highlighting their contributions, achievements and challenges. They should also recognise the wider impact of military service on family life and communities.
The project should capture experiences across the full military journey, from recruitment and training through active service to transition from the Armed Forces into civilian life. This whole-life approach will provide a rich and balanced understanding of women’s experiences across different Services, roles, ranks and periods of service.
The project’s outputs should be accessible to a broad audience, including the general public, policy officials, researchers, veterans and the wider veteran community. By engaging these audiences, the project should improve public understanding of women’s military service, support future research, inform policy development and promote wider recognition of the contribution of women veterans.
