A free temporary exhibition, looking at life on the home front during the First World War, opens at the Museum of St Albans tomorrow (Friday).

It is being held at the Hatfield Road museum to mark 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War and runs until November 16.

The exhibition, Keeping the Home Fires Burning, focuses on how the local community pulled together and businesses adapted to life during the war. Visitors can also find out how wartime conditions in St Albans compared to life in Germany with the help of contributions from the twin city of Worms.

Visitors will be able to read soldiers’ letters to loved ones and find out about the contribution made by St Albans Scouts to the war effort. They will also hear recordings of local people recounting how St Albans was taken over by 8,000 soldiers based at training camps in the city.

There is also a painting by local artist Frank O. Salisbury of the Second Lieutenant Frederick John Eric Freeman from Harpenden. Exhibited alongside is the cigarette case the soldier was carrying in his pocket when he was shot during the Battle of the Somme.

To launch the exhibition, Verulamium Museum is hosting two talks at 7pm tomorrow about life in both countries during the First World War.

In the first local researcher Richard Howard will speak about the wartime years in St Albans and he will be followed Dr Daniel Nagel from the city archive at Worms, Germany, who will then describe the experiences of people in the twin city.

Tickets for the talks cost £8 and can be booked by calling 01727 819340.