Veterans call for missing names to be added to memorial

Colin Bell and other veterans are trying to raise £12,000, to etch the missing names and restore the monument

Veterans are campaigning for the names of two forgotten war heroes to be added to a memorial.

Two servicemen, Jeynes Worcestershire and Stanley J Watkins, are missing from a monument in Dymock in the Forest of Dean.

The reason for this not known, but it is believed they might have been shot for cowardice.

Appeal chairman Colin Bell thinks leaving out their names is "absolutely wrong".

When the village started work to repair the war memorial, it was revealed that the names of two veterans were on the Church's Roll of Honour but missing from the memorial.

"To think there are families here who have lost relatives in World War One and World War Two and they're not on the monument to be remembered is wrong," Mr Bell said.

Mr Bell and other veterans are trying to raise £12,000, to etch the missing names and restore the monument.

Ian Bruce, retired major, said he finds it "extremely important" for younger generations to "understand the sacrifices these people made".

"Even if they were part of the shot-at-dawn cohort, they are extremely important in our history and made us exactly what we are today."

The veterans are organising fundraising events in the village, alongside plans to march the Dymock half marathon next year.

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