THE town council in Wellington is marking the centenary of the end of the First World War by righting a 97-year wrong with the addition of 32 missing names to the town’s war memorial.

Town Mayor Cllr Gary James has unveiled a new bronze plaque on the memorial which also contains a further 11 names of those who died in the Second World War.

The council commissioned the plaque to commemorate the centenary and it will be dedicated during the annual Remembrance Sunday Service.

The war memorial in Wellington Park was unveiled in June 1921 and originally contained the names of 178 local men who lost their lives during the Great War.

The reason for the 32 names being omitted has been lost in time but Cllr James, a former paratrooper, said: “I am delighted we have now put right this long-standing injustice.

“I’m so proud that at long last we have now honoured those who fell during the conflict a century ago, as well as adding those who died in the Second World War who were also missing from the memorial.

“We could not have done it without the magnificent work of local historians Mike Perry and Ray Hitchcock, who were able to trace the names of those who, for whatever reason, had not been recognised on the memorial.

“I think it is a wonderful way for the town to mark this historic occasion.”

The town council has also financed the cleaning for the first time in generations of the rough-hewn Cornish granite memorial stone.

Stonemason Richard Smith, who lives in Sylvan Road, Wellington, carried out the work.