Plea for additional Rothesay War Memorial names

The Bute branch of the Royal British Legion is planning to purchase a lectern to carry the names of the fallen, missing from the war memorial.

Rothesay War Memorial.

Research has indicated there are at least nine names but this has to be verified. The plan is to unveil the lectern prior to the Remembrance service in November. This is part of the Legion’s plan to restore Rothesay War Memorial.

Former Bute branch chairman David Boe is calling on people to put forward names of people who are not already on the memorial.

He said: “We are appealing to the public. If anyone has any information that can help us identify who they are please get in touch with the Legion office in Deanhood Place. If they know of anyone whose name is still to be added please let us know now before we get the lectern.

The lectern the Legion hopes to purchase to place at Rothesay War Memorial.

“We will probably place it against the railings or bolt it to the floor. It will be the same colour as everything else at the memorial so it won’t stand out and look out of place. The branch is buying the lectern, it costs £522.

“It’s just a matter now of getting out there and asking people for names. Hopefully through the summer we can get the names sorted then have it in place for Remembrance Sunday in November.”

David explained why the Legion has chosen to erect a lectern for the missing names.

He said: “I have been involved in trying to get the war memorial restored for the past five years.

“We thought there were nine names missing off the memorial. Four or five years ago we had one name added to the war memorial and it cost £800 then, so it could be £1,000 for each name now. We don’t want to have these new names just tagged on. So this way, with the lectern, it looks better, instead of looking like a stamp collection.

“We had a family who contacted the council about their relative missing off the memorial. But we might have that name already. It’s just a case of checking everything off our list. People question why they were missing in the first place but we just don’t know. It was a long time ago when the original memorial was built.”

David added that the next phase will be the restoration of the angel at the memorial.