A BLOOD-stained helmet, Christmas cards to families and water bottles once owned by the region’s World War I soldiers yesterday went on show at the Albury Council building in Kiewa Street.
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The exhibition opening coincided with yesterday’s centenary anniversary of the day Britain declared war on Germany, beginning a conflict that would involve about 2000 soldiers from Albury and the surrounding district.
The exhibition is aimed at giving soldiers a face and to recognise the sacrifice they made.
Mayor Kevin Mack said it was important to commemorate the lives lost.
“It sends a chill up my spine when I wonder what would have happened if they weren’t there for us,” he said.
The exhibition is made up of almost 100 artefacts from the Victorian Mounted Rifles and Light Horse museum in Bandiana.
Museum manager and former president of Albury and District Historical Society Doug Hunter said he hoped people would link the artefacts to memories.
“People will come and have a look and get a better idea about things mentioned in stories their grandfathers had told them,” he said.
“It recognises the life soldiers experienced while at war by having on show the mundane items that connected them to home.”
Albury Council’s museum and social history co-ordinator Bridget Guthrie said she was able to bring the artefacts into the public domain through a partnership with the museum.
The exhibition will be open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm for the next month.
