New Find

In recognition of the anniversary of the Hull Blitz of May 1941, I have found this document issued by the Chief Warden Robert G. Tarran thanking the members of Hull’s Warden Service for their endeavours during those difficult days.

Hull Steps Forward

Despite the weather, we had an overwhelming turn out to the volunteer taster day on Tuesday 17th April.  Over 150 people came across the two sessions and we had 114 application forms filled in on the day.

I would like to say a huge thank you to the staff involved and to all the people who came to support the project.

The next step is to go through the application forms and decide how we will roll out the volunteer programme in light of this tremendous response.

A Call To Arms

The North East Town Revealed WW2 project is now ready for volunteers. 

On Tuesday 17 April, we are holding two taster sessions for people to come and see how they can get involved in the project.  These are 10am to 12 noon and repeated 2pm to 4pm, these are open sessions so there is no need to book.

A description of the volunteer role and more information on the taster sessions can be found on the History Centre website.

The Archivist's Progress

There is light at the end of the tunnel!  But only in terms of getting the personnel cards ready for indexing.  Working with the Access and Collections Manager we are in the process of finalising the tasks that we hope volunteers can undertake. 

I have spent some of this last week trying to get a grasp on the structure of the Civil Defence Corps and feel I am making headway.  Many organisations and companies today have a family tree style guide to their structure.  Unfortunately, there appears to have been no such thing for Hull’s Civil Defence Corps, but there is a lot of paperwork. 

The most easily accessible information I could find has been in the Council Minutes books of 1937-1938.  By the end of this project, this should not be the case.  

Introduction to the Archivist

As the archivist appointed to work on North East Coast Town Revealed: Hull’s Second World War Records, I would like to introduce myself.  My name is Victoria and I have previously worked at Durham County Record Office where I catalogued records of the Durham Light Infantry.  This collection spans many wars from the 1800s to the 1960s, with a substantial number of records relating to soldiers in the First and Second World Wars.

I am therefore pleased to have been given this opportunity to build on my experience and work with records from the Home Front and to learn about the experiences of Hull during the Second World War.  In cataloguing these records I hope to bring them to a wider audience by increasing their accessibility and revealing stories of endurance of the city and its people. 

My first steps have been to start going through the numerous personnel cards for the Warden Service and sorting them for the mammoth, but hugely beneficial, task of indexing the names.  We will shortly be putting out a call for volunteers to help us in this so keep checking back for further information.

Victoria Oxberry, Project Archivist, Hull City Archives at Hull History Centre