Personal stories told in private tour of The Rooms WW I collection

An artificial arm, riding gear, and the photo of a St. John's woman who died of a broken heart are all part of a new, sweeping exhibit being organized at The Rooms for July 2016.

The CBC's Jonathan Crowe got a private tour of the collection earlier this week, and heard some of the stories behind the artifacts. Check it out in the player above.

Curator Maureen Power said many items were gathered over the past two-and-a-half years from 14 different communities around the province.

They include a prosthetic arm belonging to Fred Roberts of Change Islands, who was injured at Beaumont-Hamel in 1916.

The arm had been in the provincial archives' collection since the 1980s and was identified recently by Roberts' granddaughter.

"I brought her here and she went right to the thumb," said Power. "She used to sit on his lap and click his thumb, she was so emotional."

The arm proved a liability in fishing because it was so heavy, and got tangled in the lines, said Power, so he didn't use it much at sea.

'Everything but the horse'

A family from Grand Falls-Windsor donated riding gear that George Hicks brought back from overseas.

"His family tells us he came back with everything but the horse," laughed Power.

"It was a great loss," she said of the war, showing a photograph of Eliza Strong, who lost her son.

Died of 'a broken heart'

Strong lived on the south side of St. John's and supported the war effort, flying the regimental colours until her son Charlie was killed at Beaumont-Hamel.

After that, "she withdrew from everything," said Power. "Three years later, she died of a broken heart."

The World War One exhibit will be a permanent one at The Rooms, and open in July 2016, to mark the 100th anniversary of the battle of Beaumont-Hamel.