The 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, the war to end all wars', which cost eight million lives, is to be commemorated by a major exhibition at Surrey History Centre.

Almost a million of those who died came from the British Empire. It was a conflict that involved most families, either by serving in the armed forces or as civilians helping the war effort in factories.

The exhibition, Home Fires and Foreign Fields Surrey and the Great War, 1914- 1918, will be staged between Tuesday, June 22 and Friday, August 27 at the county council-run History Centre, in Goldsworth Road, Woking, which collects and preserves archives and printed material relating to Surrey.

Among the exhibits is a recruiting register that records the enlistment of the actor and playwright Noel Coward (who lived in London) photographs and documents from the archives of the Queen's Regiment museum at Clandon Park, and papers belonging to RC Sherriff, author of Journey's End, which was based on his life in the trenches as an officer in the East Surrey Regiment.

Sections of the display cover the prisoner of war camp at Frith Hill, near Frimley, women's roles in the war, and life in the trenches and on the home front.

The exhibition also utilises clips from the centre's film archive that are included on a new video, Surrey on Film 1914-1953: a Community in Peace and War, which is available for purchase.

Surrey History Centre is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9.30am to 5pm, Thursdays from 9.30am to 7.30pm and Saturdays from 9.30am to 4pm.

Call 01483 518737 or visit www.surreycc.gov.uk/surrey historycentre