ON the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month in 1918 the end of the First World War was declared.
Tomorrow we will gather around our local war memorials. They were all erected in the early 1920s and funded by donations from the local community. The casualties in the First World War were so horrendous that every community was affected.
Some of the memorials are now looking rather tired – they've been exposed to all weathers for 100 years.
There is the temptation to give them a good clean but in fact this can be disastrous as they are often very delicate. Willing volunteers can unintentionally damage the stone and cause crumbling and loss of the names. Repairs are expensive. So you wish to assist, the first step is to contact the custodian of the memorial who will be the local city, town or parish council, for permission. If in a church yard then the church authorities.
Cleaning of the actual memorial should be left to qualified contractors or stone masons. An example is the newly cleaned and re-lettered memorial in Gloucester at The Park, funded by the city council. The most practical way to assist is in removing undergrowth and cutting grass.
The War Memorial Trust gives advice on all aspects of Memorials and has a programme to encourage school pupils to become involved – this can be downloaded by teachers from the web site. Please contact me on michael.bennett@tiscali.co.uk