The Their Past Your Future travelling exhibition will be at the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre in Nottingham until April 30 2005. © Chris Breese/24 Hour Museum.

The commemoration of the end of the Second World War is being brought to the East Midlands by a travelling exhibition that launched at the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre, Nottingham, on Thursday March 23 2005.

Called ‘Their Past Your Future’ and devised by the Imperial War Museum, the exhibit will be touring the region over the coming months.

Marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the fighting, the exhibition aims to reveal personal stories from the war and show how it changed lives and how those who were lost are remembered.

Roy Hill, 82 is one of the local people featured in the exhibition. He flew in Lancaster bombers - he and his crew were shot down and they were captured. © Chris Breese/24 Hour Museum.

Speaking at the launch was 80-year-old Jennie Elding, who joined the Nottingham Women’s Volunteer Service during the war. She said: “I’d like to thank all the museums who made this exhibition possible and in doing so made it possible to remember all the friends who are no longer with us. “

Memories from the local area are being brought to life by ‘Our War in the East Midlands‘, on show alongside the main Imperial War Museum Exhibition. The display is made up of 11 personal history profiles, charting the experiences of a range of people from the region who fought and worked for Britain during the war.

Roy Hill, of Girton near Newark, was part of a Lancaster bomber crew. Shot down and later captured, he was imprisoned in Stalag Luft one camp on the Baltic coast before being liberated by the Russians on May Day 1945.

The exhibition features a number of display panels, which shoppers and other members of the public can browse at their leisure. © Chris Breese/24 Hour Museum.

Taking a look at the debut of his own profile Roy said, “I remember not being able to bail out of the back exit of the plane as we went down because the door was damaged so I had to dash to the front.”

Their Past Your Future will be on display at the Broadmarsh centre until April 30, and will then travel to Derby. A series of corresponding events are being held in and around Nottingham over the coming weeks. For details of the current exhibition phone the Broadmarsh Centre on 0115 840 4554 or log on to the website at www.theirpast-yourfuture.org.uk

Chris Breese is the 24 Hour Museum Renaissance Student Writer in the East Midlands region. Renaissance is the groundbreaking initiative to transform England's regional museums, led by MLA, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.