Letter to an Unknown Soldier

"On Platform One of Paddington Station in London, there is a statue of an unknown soldier; he’s reading a letter.  On the hundredth anniversary of the declaration of war – in this year crowded with official remembrance and ceremony – we’re inviting everyone to pause, take a moment or two, and write that letter.  All the letters the soldier receives will be published here, creating a new kind of war memorial – one made only of words."
New project 'Letter to an Unknown Soldier', created by Neil Bartlett and Kate Pullinger, is calling for family historians to compose a letter and add it to the website 1418NOW.org.uk/letter. The letter can be inspired by the stories they have researched about family members involved in the First World War. All letters will be published online, alongside those of writers Stephen Fry, Andrew Motion, Sheila Hancock and Malorie Blackman. Letters can be submitted now and will be published starting on 28 June – a hundred years to the day since the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand which marked the beginning of Europe’s descent into war. The website will remain open until the night of 4 August, the centenary of the outbreak of war. The entire collection will be archived online at The British Library and kept in perpetuity for generations to come.