AT 6pm on November 11, traffic was stopped and the sound of a bugle rattled through Arwenack Street, Falmouth.

This was to mark the opening of the Voices of War art exhibition at the Poly, Falmouth.

Corporal Martin Webster welcomed the crowd and led them into the gallery of his paintings and poems.

The work on show was the soldier's response to serving in the war in Iraq and the aftermath that followed once returning to Falmouth.

The layout of the exhibition was well suited to the mind of a soldier, a maze of explosive expressive paintings and texts were displayed in a ghostly atmospheric space.

Martin's paintings could have only been produced by a soldier. They cut deep into the viewer's emotions, as they give a personal viewpoint of war combat situations and an insight into the horrors that haunt soldiers after the war.

After leaving the forces Martin is still fighting his own war. He is battling to express how it feels to have experienced the highs and lows of being a soldier through poetry and painting.

He feels that more can be done to assist soldiers that return from Iraq and is raising money from exhibition sales and donations to support the charities Combat Stress and the British Legion.

Martin will continue his fight and this exhibition has brought the war in Iraq to the doorstep of the Cornishman, and made war in a very distant place, not seem so far away.

The exhibition has comforted those family and friends of overseas soldiers who have visited the gallery. It has also awakened new voices to support these just causes.

Mike Varney, Mayor of Falmouth, said: " Brilliant and very moving."

The Voices of War art exhibition also included paintings by Jamie Boyd who displayed a civilian's point of view of war.

Using history books and newspapers he has illustrated how the media responded to stories of war victims, survivors, hostages, terrorists, collaborators and soldiers.

Through public support the exhibition has been extended, and will continue at Gallery 49, High Street, Falmouth.

For more information on Voices of War visit www.voicesofwar.co.uk, to see Jamie Boyd's war paintings visit www.jaboyd.co.uk