THE thoughts of soldiers on the frontline in Afghanistan are to be shared in a special exhibition in Bournemouth.

In Our Own Words: Soldiers’ Thoughts from Afghanistan has been compiled by UK official war artist Derek Eland and will be visiting the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum.

Commissioned by Brigadier James Chiswell, the work is composed of 400 cards written by troops on the frontline from The Irish Guards, the Royal Irish Regiment and the Parachute Regiment.

The exhibition visits the Bournemouth venue after its initial successful showing earlier this year at the Imperial War Museum North.

Artist Derek Eland, himself a former paratrooper, was embedded in Afghanistan with the 16 Air Assault Brigade where he asked servicemen and women to write down their feelings, hopes and fears about life living in camp and with the daily threat of being wounded or killed on patrol and missing family and friends.

The exhibition consists of a “Diary Room” where visitors can read the cards and contribute by adding their own response to the words from the front line.

Derek said: “I wasn’t interested in seeing things in Afghanistan and then creating artworks back in my studio in the UK. I wanted to create art which was immediate, raw and above all honest.

“I was driven by a need to help create a unique self-portrait of what it is like to be human in this extraordinary place. This exhibition is their story.

“It is with enormous pride that I am able to exhibit these stories at the Russell-Cotes alongside the work of previous war artists”.

The exhibition will also examine the practice of a war artist through the comparison of art work by the WAAC (War Artist Advisory Committee) which commissioned artists during World War II and the work of Derek Eland.

It will include works by major UK war artists and it will be at the Russell-Cotes from October 5 to March 10.