Bid to add soldier's name to memorial 50 years on

The war memorial was first unveiled in 1920

A council is seeking to add the name of a 17-year-old soldier to a war memorial 50 years after his death.

On 21 July 1974, Guardsman Graeme Lawson, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, of the Coldstream Guards, became the first soldier to be killed while serving with the UN in Cyprus.

A memorial service was held earlier in the year to mark the 50th anniversary of the soldier's death.

Sunderland City Council has now applied for planning permission to add Guardsman Lawson's name to a Grade II listed war memorial.

He is understood to have been killed when a weapon he was unloading exploded.

Guardsman Lawson had been in Cyprus for four weeks and it was his first posting.

Guardsman Lawson's uncle, Doug Melton (centre), was at the service in July

The local authority wants to add Guardsman Lawson's name to the Washington Village War Memorial, which was first unveiled in 1920, on behalf of his family and the local historical group.

Ged Parker, chairman of the Washington History Society, previously told the BBC that if this happened before Remembrance Day in November, Guardsman Lawson would be "referred to as another resident of this area who lost his life, and therefore the wider public of the town will learn of this incident".

According to the planning documents, a stone mason has confirmed that the soldier's name can be added to the memorial using the same font and size as the other names on the structure.