Even while the First World War was still being fought, the newly-formed Imperial War Museum was asking the public to help it tell the story of the global conflict that shaped the world we live in today.
The museum was formed not as a monument to military glory, but as a record of the toil and sacrifice of those who had served in uniform or worked on the home front.
The vision for this record was that it would be so complete that every individual, man or woman, soldier, sailor, airman and civilian from across Britain and the Commonwealth would find a record of their contribution.
But with millions of people involved, not everyone could be named. Many stories could not be told.
Now, in the digital age, IWM can build the permanent digital memorial to the Lives of the First World War.
By working together during the First World War centenary, we can piece together more than 8 million life stories, share them, and enable IWM to save them for future generations.
It would be an extraordinary achievement if we could do this.