TO mark the centenary of the start of World War One a group of Year 9 students at Malmesbury School have been researching the names of the soldiers listed on the School War Memorial.

Using material from the Swindon and Wiltshire History Centre in Chippenham and following discussions with Richard Broadbent from Wiltshire soldiers, they have unearthed some interesting stories such as two of the names listed were those of the Newman brothers who tragically died a week apart, one serving in Egypt and the other in Flanders.

They also learnt that one of the young men died of pneumonia in training and didn’t even make it to the War.

Gemma Haddow, a student who took part in the project said: “It was great.  We went into the cold room where they stored all their artefacts which was really interesting because it went back years ago.  Was very interesting to see how they keep the room – e.g at the right temp etc. so they don’t get damaged.  There are 3 sets of doors to keep them locked securely.”