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Preserving military records of soldiers who served in the Essex Regiment during the first World War is proving to be a time consuming job.

Doug Killick, an ex-serviceman himself, and Ian Hook, the Keeper of the Essex Regiment Archive at Chelmsford Museum he's been coming in two days-a-week to process the paper records.听听听

Doug has already put into the computer thousands of army service personnel and their details, taking him about a year so far.

Through the records they've been able to trace different soldiers locally, and one-such person was William Cresswell.

William was from Writtle, near Chelmsford, and his name appears on the war memorial in the village. Cresswell took part in the Battle of the Somme and was killed during the fighting.

Both Doug and Ian believe it's important to preserve the records for future generations. Ian says they've had lots of interest from relatives of soldiers looking into their family history.

If you're interested in finding out more about the records of the Essex Regiment, you can contact Chelmsford Museum on 01245 605700.