Stand to attention because your country needs you! This time, thank goodness, it's not a call to join up - but instead, to write up your war time memories.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the end of World war II and to mark it the BBC is creating a huge archive of wartime stories.
Devon played a pivotal role in the war, providing homes for evacuees, a base for American troops and a launching point for the D-Day landings being just a few of its contributions. Now we want to hear your stories of living in Devon through the war years.  | | Were you a child in the war? |
It's part of the BBC People’s War project, which is creating a lasting online record of World War II recollections. The BBC People’s War archive is currently focusing on this year’s commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the end of the war. It already contains tens of thousands of personal histories and once finished, it will form a lasting national legacy to those who lived through the conflict, and will be preserved as a research tool for future generations. Storytellers need not be recording their own memories either. For many reasons some of the people with stories are no longer around. To help keep their memories alive the BBC is encouraging children, grandchildren or friends to pass the story on. There are already diary extracts and retellings of stories passed down through a generation or more before being recorded for everyone. The site hopes to become a permanent archive for future generations to use as either a research archive or as a way of keeping family stories alive.  | | Celebrating VE Day in Devon, 1945 |
The site also has a research section that will guide you through researching your family history or tracking down wartime tales. The biggest mission of the BBC is to keep history alive. "When these memories fade, and as people are not around to tell their stories any more we risk losing that history altogether," said Belinda Dixon, BBC South West People's War co-ordinator. "It’s a scary thought, but unless that past is recorded in some way for future generations it will be almost as if it didn’t happen." Or as George Santayana is famously quoted as saying, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." If you want to make sure the past isn't forgotten your stories can be entered either on the People's War website or on a form you can order by calling 01752 255500. You can use the same methods to apply to become a storygatherer, who'll receive training to help others add their tales and make sure they are not forgotten. | 
