THE Chinchilla Museum and RSL Sub-Branch are preparing to commemorate the end of World War I by unveiling a moving display.

The collection showcasing photographs, letters, art, and other artefacts will be on show at the Chinchilla RSL Sub-Branch next month.

Chinchilla Museum research officer Tricia Henningsen said she wanted to do something to commemorate the Centenary of Armistice - the day World War I came to an end - and RSL Sub-Branch vice-president Don Allen agreed.

"I thought, being 100 years we should do something for Remembrance Day. I asked the boys down there (at the RSL) and they said 'oh well, what information have you got?,” Mr Allen said.

Mr Allen and Mrs Henningsen got talking, and decided to organise a combined display of items from both the museum's collection and community members.

"We've got gear that we've collected but there are also people from the public who are sending in photographs, postcards, letters, all sorts of memorabilia that they've got and we'll add that into the collection,” Mrs Henningsen said.

"We have descendants ... who have given us some picture postcards, and cards et cetera, letters that were sent home by their ancestor during the war.

"There's a photograph album from a sheriff who was in World War I, the honour roll, there's a book of the war paintings from World War I.

"One lady has a helmet that her ancestor wore during the war, so all those sorts of things will be on display.”

But for Mrs Henningsen, one stand-out in the display is a collection of old papers that chronicle soldier send-offs, welcome homes, and news of woundings and deaths on the battlefield.

"In the display I particularly looked at those who were killed in action,” she said.

"There are a number of panels from that where it was reported in the newspapers that they were killed in action and sometimes it gives graphic detail about what happened to that particular person and where they're buried.

"This is not my history, I'm not from here, but I've got ancestors from World War I too. But I'm a teacher librarian by trade and interested in the history and collecting whatever I can, trying to impress on people that their history is just as important as what came a long time ago because someone will be looking for their stories soon.”

And already the museum collection is having an impact.

"A lot of people have come out of the woodwork from reading the newspapers that we weren't aware that went to war, so it's adding to the history that we had,” Mrs Henningsen said.

"It's finding more information, and hopefully this will instigate people to bring in more information about their soldier ancestors. And we should really be collecting on other wars, because those from World War II are disappearing very quickly too.”

The collection will be available to see at the Chinchilla RSL Sub-Branch from 9am-2pm from November 8-14.