Artist Julian Germain has collated the images, which have been lent to the gallery by enlisted men as well as by ex-servicemen and women and their relatives and also by the Royal Navy Museum, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum and the Royal Marines Museum. A few items have been purchased on the eBay auction website.

Says Julian: 'Photography is part of all our lives and images are all around us. Packaging, adverts, newspapers, magazines, catalogues, surveillance, research and so on.

'Arguably, the most important photographs are the ones we make ourselves to record significant moments in our lives. Whether this has been done casually or carefully we have created a vast archive of images, flashbacks to help us remember.

'War Memorial is an exhibition which acknowledges this fundamental bond between photographs and memories and which offers us a direct link to the experiences service men and women were able, and chose to, record.'

Glimpses from momentous international events have been captured on all sorts of cameras, from Box Brownies to the latest digital technology.

Adds Julian: 'The common language of snapshot photographs in albums creates a sense of familiarity, recognition and even authenticity that invites us to respond to these people's lives and experiences in a way that is impossible if we look at professional images made for publication in the media.'

Admission to War Memorial is free. More information from (023) 9277 8080 or online at www.aspex.org.uk