Independent pet retail group Pettitt & Boo is marking its fourth year of remembrance displays by sharing the stories of people lost in the First and Second World Wars in its Norfolk shop windows throughout November.

The team uses a variety of online family history tools, military records and Commonwealth War Graves Commission resources to trace relatives who died during the conflicts. The research takes several months, often uncovering people whose names and stories might otherwise have been forgotten.

The resulting posters bring together service details, places of commemoration and explanations of wartime roles, alongside each person’s connection to a member of the Pettitt & Boo team. Where available, family photographs add a further personal connection.

The displays also remember former residents of the sites where the company’s Castle Quarter and Cromer stores now stand.

For director Ali Pettitt, the project continues a responsibility passed down by her father, who served as a Flight Engineer in Bomber Command during the Second World War.

Ali said: “My father survived the war and lived to the age of 93, but his respect for the friends who didn’t make it through those years stayed with him throughout his life. He never forgot them, and I feel a responsibility to carry that remembrance forward.

“When we research our family trees, we sometimes find someone whose story has almost disappeared from the family’s memory. It can take months to piece together who they were, where they served and what happened to them. Giving them a place in our windows means their names are seen and their lives are acknowledged.

“This is our fourth year of creating these displays. Every year, the research reminds us how closely these wars touched ordinary families, including our own.”

Among those remembered is George Courage, who was placed in the care of Ali’s relatives on their Somerset dairy farm after losing his parents as a young teenager. With no known living relatives, his inclusion reflects the team’s commitment to remembering people whose stories could otherwise be lost.

Members of the public are invited to pause at the shop windows, read the posters and discover the personal histories behind the names.