THE War Memorial in Wellington Park may be enhanced and brought up to date as part of a project to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War.

Several town councillors are keen to carry out the project and have it completed by November 11, 2018, the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day.

The War Memorial was inaugurated 95 years ago next month but recently councillors were told that possibly 40 names were missing from the list of those who fell during The Great War of 1914-18.

The granite hewn memorial also lists Services personnel who fell during the Second World War from 1939-45, giving a total of 221 names.

Wellington’s new Deputy Mayor Cllr Gary James, a former soldier, said: “Unfortunately, there have been other men and women from Wellington who have died in conflicts since then but their names are not recorded on the memorial.

“I am sure most people would agree we should bring the War Memorial up to date and honour all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us.”

Cllr John Thorne said he would like to expand the inscriptions with information such as Christian names rather than just initials, and perhaps rank, Services unit and date of death.

He said: “At present, we use three sides of the War Memorial, with one left blank, and I feel sure we could do more by making the panels larger and using the fourth wall of the memorial.”

The new Mayor of Wellington, Cllr Bob Bowrah, also a former soldier, said a local stonemason had been approached to give advice on what could be achieved and the likely costs of carrying it out. He said: “I appreciate it is likely to be an emotional issue for some people and we would be delighted to receive feedback on our ideas so that we do what we can to avoid causing distress to anybody. We would also need to get approval from Historic England because the War Memorial is a listed structure and protected by legislation.”

The councillors are liaising with the local branch of the Royal British Legion and will also take advice from the War Memorials Trust.

They also want to commission cleaning of the War Memorial and see a nearby flower bed, which is officially a Legion ‘Garden of Remembrance’, enclosed with it instead of appearing to be separate.