ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the utility and truth-value of eyewitness testimony as defined by Imperial War Museums (IWM). IWM uses eyewitness testimony because people are fascinated by the personal. Using IWM's education project Their Past Your Future' (TPYF) as case study, it looks at assumptions about eyewitnesses and historical truth. From the very beginning of the project, Samantha Heywood, then Head of Corporate Education at IWM, who would become the Director of TPYF, recognised that immersing young people in the history of the Second World War would be a key feature of the project, William Rose, sparked the notion that meeting veterans and eyewitnesses would be essential for the project. The war in the Far East perhaps gives some of the starkest contrasts in attitudes and experiences, and the experiences of this particular veteran. It also assesses the challenges and limitations of eyewitness testimony and its contribution to historical understanding, both for young people and those who work with them.
