Missing names added to war memorial

The new names were unveiled at a ceremony earlier

The names of fallen soldiers who had been missing from a town's war memorial have been added as the culmination of a community project.

Thirty names emerged during research for the Thame Remembers project which aimed to commemorate soldiers from the Oxfordshire town.

They were added to the memorial and were unveiled by the Duke of Gloucester earlier.

Organiser Mike Dyer said it was "wonderful" to see the project conclude with the extra names on display.

Thirty names were discovered to have been missed off the memorial

The project began in 2014 as part of the commemorations of the centenary of the start of World War One.

It aimed to research the names of all of those listed on Thame’s war memorials.

Residents were also challenged to visit the graves or battlefield memorials of the town’s war dead.

As a result, more than 300 people from Thame travelled to 23 countries in four continents to pay their respects to 212 men who died in five conflicts – the Boer War, the Korean War, the Cyprus Conflict, as well as the two world wars.

In the course of the research, it became clear a number of men appeared to have been missed off the town's memorial.

Volunteers searched through personal archives and military records to verify the names that should have been included.

'Taken years'

The Duke of Gloucester also laid a wreath on behalf of the King during the ceremony attended by local dignitaries and many of the volunteers who took part in the project.

Mr Dyer, from Thame Remembers, said "When memorials were erected, there were no guidelines.

"They just appealed for information about who didn't come back. Inevitably, people got missed. It's taken years, but it's wonderful.

"There is some solemnity to it, but it's also a celebration because these are men from Thame who had largely been forgotten - we've found them and we're going to honour them in Thame."

Among those was L/Cpl Ronald Harris who served with the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry during World War Two.

Having survived the Normandy landings, he was killed fighting in Germany five months before the end of the war.

Tracey Wyse, whose great aunt was married to him, said his family had always been "distressed" his name was not on the war memorial.

"It is a really proud day - they'd all be very proud he is recognised and remembered," she added.