Two Kirklees museums are turning back the clock on Sunday (July 5) so people can experience what it was like to serve their country in World War I.
Oakwell Hall at Birstall and Red House at Gomersal are to host a WWI re-enactment event featuring the Lancashire Hussars.
As well as the chance to see what life was like in a military camp during the war, visitors will be encouraged to “sign up” and take part in a recruitment march.
The event, Your Country Needs You, takes place between 1pm and 4.30pm, although a military camp at Oakwell Hall will be open to visitors from 10am.
The Lancashire Hussars re-enactment group recreates Squadron D of the Lancashire Hussars Territorial Yeomanry as they existed in 1914. They will bringing six horses to Oakwell where they will set up camp and a recruiting station.
Between 1pm and 1.30pm, visitors will ne encouraged to sigh up – copying the voluntary enrolment of men and young boys during the war. At Red House, there will be music and war poems from 1pm until the troops and recruits arrive from Oakwell. Once there, the recruits will be put through the process of completing attestation forms.
About 3.30pm, the new recruits will march back to Oakwell for drill practice before being allowed to “stand down”.
Present during the afternoon will be members of Project Bugle who research the impact of the war on the Batley and Birstall area, producing monthly dispatches on war events and casualties compiled from original newspapers. There will also be historians present and a display of war medals.
The event has been organised by the Friends of Oakwell Country Park and the Friends of Red House Museum with funding from the Batley and Spen District Committee.
