Harrogate WW2 veteran launches war memorial's centenary celebrations

Ms Sheila Pantin (pictured above during WW2 and more recently) has been chosen to launch the 12-week long celebrations

A World War Two veteran is launching a programme of events to mark the centenary of Harrogate's war memorial - just weeks before her 100th birthday.

The town's cenotaph, which was unveiled on 1 September 1923, records the names of 1,163 men and women killed in war.

To mark its centenary 12 weeks of events will begin on Friday.

The programme will be launched by Sheila Pantin, one of the first British servicewomen to enter a concentration camp in April 1945.

Harrogate War Memorial in Prospect Square was unveiled on 1 September 1923

Ms Pantin, who will celebrate her own centenary on 21 October, was a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, which was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War Two.

She will be cutting a ribbon to declare open the celebrations, including the More Than A Name On A Memorial exhibition, which is to be staged at Harrogate's West Park United Reformed Church.  

The project will be led by volunteers from a number of local groups and societies who have asked for community contributions related to those named on the memorial.  

Ms Pantin, who lives in Harrogate, will also deliver a talk entitled The Road to the Concentration Camps, based on her experience of seeing inside Belsen concentration camp when the war ended.

The names of 2/Lt Walter Ogden (above left) and 2/Lt Donald Bell VC (above right) are two of the names inscribed on the Harrogate war Memorial

Nigel McClea, chair of the Harrogate War Memorial Project Group, said: "Thanks to herculean efforts over many years by local historian Graham Roberts, all 1,163 names have been researched.

"Much has been discovered and recorded, including military units, war records, photographs, cause of death, date of death and place of burial."

However, Mr McClea said more than 300 of the World War One names inscribed on the memorial had no known grave. 

He said: "We would love to hear from anyone with an ancestor named on the memorial who might have photographs, or recollections of their experiences.  

"We would also love copies of things such as letters home, or letters they received from home, extracts from diaries, battle orders or telegrams and anything about what these brave people did before going to war."