THE Born in Bradford social study of babies project, which started in 2007, has come up with images and stories of BiB children with family relatives who fought in World War One.

Assisted by social documentary photographer Ian Beesley, Tricia Platts and Chris Power of Bradford's World War 1 Group, the project has accumulated a number of photographs of BiB children with pictures of these relatives.

Ann Barratt, the project's family liaison officer at Bradford Institute for Health Research, said: "When we have enough we are going to use them for an exhibition - The Future of History: Bridging the Gap.

"In this 100th anniversary year of the First World War we wanted to make real the connection between children growing up in this city now and their relatives who fought in the First World War. These children are the future for Bradford and at the same time, as the descendants of the people involved in this shocking conflict in which so many lives were lost, they are part of that history.

"In the January edition of the BiB newsletter, which is sent to all the BiB participants, we invited anyone who has a photograph of a relative who took part in the war to be photographed in a replica Edwardian studio holding their photograph, so that we create new images bridging those 100 years and showing the very real connections in families.

"Ian used a reproduction plate camera from the Great War period on which to shoot black and white images of the children and their relatives. It is really important that this generation hears the personal stories of previous generations and knows how their own family was involved in a global conflict.

"For Scott, Harry and Reece Franks, James Darrington, is only two generations removed; he was their great grandpa. His grandson, Stephen Franks, recalls that James didn’t say much about his experiences in the war but did tell him that when he was in the trenches, he was so close to the German front line he could hear the German soldiers talking at night.

"Jasminder and Arjan Heer’s great, great grandfather, William Carpenter, was a man who, after his experiences in the Durham Light Infantry, was full of life and took great pleasure in being with his family.

"On his return he worked in the mills in Halifax, and his hobbies were going to the pub and watching football and horse racing. It is striking to compare BiB mum Helen’s great grandparents’ family photograph, taken in 1919, with her own family now.

"The family structures each reflect their time with Helen’s own children, Jasminder and Arjan having dual English and Indian heritage heritage. It may be that William Carpenter was familiar with the Indian troops stationed in Northern France.

"Senan and his sister Clara Cunningham discovered that their Grandmother’s three uncles, the Gallagher brothers - James, Thomas and Mark - all fought in the War, and all survived, although great, great uncle Mark was shot in the mouth and always liked to be photographed from his ‘good’ side for the rest of his life.

"Mark Gallagher volunteered with the Northumberland Fusiliers in February 1916 and was discharged in March, 1919, nearly four months after the end of the war.

"Grace and George Atkinson come from a long standing farming family in the Clayton area of Bradford. Their great, great uncle, Thomas Clay, was one of a family of ten. He was the only one of the brothers (there were four of them) who was killed and did not come back to the farm.

"Private Clay was in the Second Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. He was 28 when he was killed in action in France on May 27, 1918 - one of nine Guardsmen to die that day.

"Approximately half of the children being tracked in BiB are from white British families and half of them are from Asian British families of Pakistani heritage and what appealed straightaway was that this project is open to everyone, whatever their ethnicity.

"India sent 140,000 men to the Western Front. Many of these soldiers were recruited in what is now Pakistan. Ninety thousand men were combatants in the Indian Corps and Indian Cavalry and 50,000 were non-combatants in the Labour Companies.

"These men from the British Indian Army fought, and died alongside men from West Yorkshire regiments

"Tricia Platts and colleagues from Bradford’s World War 1 Group have looked at the records and discovered that, for example: John Lister of the West Yorkshire Regiment and Allah Din, of the 33rd Punjabis both died on August 11,1915.

"John Lister was the son of Mr and Mrs W H Lister, of 22, Cecil Avenue, Bradford and Allah Din was the son of Muhammad Din, of Choya Saidan Shah, Pind Dadan Khan, Jhelum, Punjab.

"The World War 1 group has details of over 800 men from the Mirpur district who died in the War, not just in France but in Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Greece, Iran, Iraq and other countries.

"The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists the villages where the men were from and it would be fascinating to know how many of these village names are familiar to families involved in the BiB project.

"Many of the villages are in the Kotli and Bhimber districts. If your family have links to these districts ask your parents and grandparents whether you had relatives who took part in the conflict.

"Some examples of men who are listed are as follows: Sahat Ali, who died on January 12, 1917, was a Sepoy in the 126th Baluchistan Infantry and was the son of Piran-Ditta, of Malout, Bhimber, Mipur.

"Waris Ali, who died in Egypt on November 6, 1918, five days before the Armistice, was a driver in the Mule Corps and was the son of Gohar Khan of Androot, Kotli, Mipur.

"Sabdul Khan, who was killed in Iraq on December 1, 1915, was a rifleman in the 104th Wellesley's Rifles. He was the son of Budhu Khan, Kotli, Mirpur.

"We are asking all the Born in Bradford families to talk to older family members to find out if they have any photographs of relatives from this time. We would also love to include photographs of women who took part in war work, nursing, ambulance driving, in the mills at home."

If you have any photographs of family members who took part in the First World War in whatever capacity, and would like to take part in this project then please get in touch with Ann Barratt, Family Liaison Officer for the Born in Bradford project Tel: 01274-383409 or e-mail Ann.barratt@bthft,nhs.uk