A POIGNANT reminder of Burnley's sacrifice during the First World War goes on display at Towneley Hall next week.

The venue's 90 Stories exhibition will commemorate the 90th anniversary of the start of the war.

Starting next Wednesday, August 4, the display will feature the moving stories of 90 people whose lives were changed forever by a conflict that claimed the lives of eight per cent of Burnley's male population.

All the stories will come from Towneley Hall Museum's collections and include medals, plaques, photographs souvenirs, letters and even a birthday card from one Burnley mother to her son on the Western Front.

Mike Townend, the museum's keeper of history, said Burnley paid a terrible human price during the four year war.

He said: "I'm told that Burnley suffered some of the worst casualties of all Lancashire's towns.

"About eight per cent of the male population - roughly 4,000 men - lost their lives in the war through death, disease or accident.

"Maybe because of the nature of the town with its terrace homes Burnley had many whole streets that were affected.

"I hope this exhibition will bring home the scale of the human drama to the younger generation.

"Who knows, in 90 years time, there might be an exhibition to those who fought in Iraq."

Among the exhibits, which will be placed in the museum's military room, will be a bronze plaque sent by the government to the family of a Burnley man killed in action.

The display also features a locally-penned poem dedicated to the loss of the Royal Edward troopship which was sunk by the Germans in 1915 with the loss of 900 lives, around 40 of them from Burnley.

Other poignant exhibits include the story of how the father of a local man killed in action, John Reynoldson, wrote new music to an old Methodist hymn Gunnerside in memory of his son.

90 Stories can be viewed during Towneley Hall's normal opening hours - Monday to Thursday, 10am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon to 5pm - until November 16.