A Nantwich man is campaigning to have what he believes are misspelt names on Nantwich War Memorial amended.
Mark Potts says at least five – and possibly more – of the names on the town square memorial have errors in them.
Mark has been researching names on local war memorials since 1996 and has had books published on the subject.
He said: “I have two great uncles commemorated including Robert Sandland on the Nantwich memorial, who was killed in action at Givenchy in 1918 aged 19.
“I have identified five names which are 100% incorrect and the there are question marks about another couple.
“As early as 1965, there were calls by the Nantwich branch of the Royal British Legion to do something about the deteriorating nature of the listings, with many difficult to read, and some completely illegible.
“Unlike today, where WW1 records are available to research on the many military websites on the internet, only limited material was at hand for the 1969 re-vamp.
“And unfortunately some of the names were so badly weathered, they could not be properly transcribed.
“These errors were identified a number of years ago, following research for a number of books published about the Great War fallen of the town.”
Mark says at least five men have surnames or middle names which are incorrect.
One example is of former Nantwich police constable William Kennerley of the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, who died of wounds on October 10, 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres.
On the memorial, it is mistakenly recorded as William “Kinnerley”.
Others include Lemuel Leeke (recorded as Lemuel Lecke), Albert Parkes (as Albert Parker), William James Phoenix (as William Jones Phoenix) and Edwin Purcell (as Edward Purcell).
Last year was the 100th anniversary of the unveiling of the Nantwich war memorial, which was performed by General Sir Beauvoir de Lisle on the square on September 25, 1921.
The impressive monument, made of Darley Dale stone, stands over 21 ft tall and commemorates the fallen from the two great wars.
Mark added: “‘We Will Remember Them’ however doesn’t quite ring true for a number of men inscribed on the
Great War marble tablets, which were placed over the top of the weathered names on the memorial in November, 1969.
“There could, of course, be others.”
Mark has met with Nantwich Town Council and members of the Royal British Legion to present evidence of the errors.
“A number of plans have been discussed, in the hope that these errors can eventually be rectified,” he added.
We have contacted Cheshire East Council and Nantwich Town council and are awaiting responses.
If you do know of any further mistakes, please get in touch with Mark on [email protected] or on 07503178132.
What a great job that Mark does, his books are a must read on local war history. He came into a school where I work and the kids were spell bound.