A forthcoming exhibition about how WW2 impacted on Knaresborough is to reveal several local cases of bigamy between Knaresborian women and German POWs.

Called Knaresborough’s War - The People’s Story, the new exhibition, which will take place at Knaresborough Heritage Centre at 12 High Street later this month, has been years in the planning.

The end result of all that hard work and research is packed with new information about Knaresborough’s untold role in the war. The exhibition also highlights the town's links to the Great Escape and how Von Ribbentrop's riding crop ended up in the town.

Presented by Knaresborough Museum Association (KMA), an outsider might think that a small market town like Knaresborough would have played only a small role in the war.

Knaresborough's war is revealed in new exhibition - John Rowe, pilot and crew outside their Lancaster bomber. (Picture by his son Iain Rowe)

placeholder image — Knaresborough's war is revealed in new exhibition - John Rowe, pilot and crew outside their Lancaster bomber. (Picture by his son Iain Rowe)

But the exhibition contains gripping first-hand accounts, told by local people who lived through the war years, which, together with objects and archive photographs collected by the volunteer-led charity, illustrate accurately how the Second World War impacted the town and the people of Knaresborough.

Kathy Allday, KMA Chair, who has been leading the exhibition team, said: “This is arguably one of our most important social history exhibitions, capturing the wartime spirit and sacrifices made by local people.

"In this, the 80th anniversary year of the end of the Second World War, we want to give a fitting tribute to the town.”

The focus of the exhibition is on the stories of many unsung heroes, including land girls and lumberjills doing strenuous work and long shifts, as well as the many children making a surprising contribution to the war effort.

Knaresborough's war - The girls working at Farnham Munitions works during the war. (Picture: Tim Frankland whose mother and aunt worked there)

Included are children bunking off school to meet Churchill and a mother narrowly escaping a head on collision with a tank.

To coincide with the exhibition KMA is producing a special souvenir newspaper filled with true war time stories and a war time cookery book will also go on sale with recipes gathered from local people.

The exhibition will be open from Wednesday, July 30 on Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun, 10am until 4pm.

Entry to the exhibition is free but donations to KMA are welcomed.

More information at: knaresboroughtownmuseum.org.uk.