Thousands of pounds have been secured to fund a heritage project to commemorate Merton men and women involved in the First World War.
Carved in Stone is a heritage lottery project that will research the stories of those who lost their lives in the First World War and seeks to put a face to the name s on the memorials.
Sarah Gould, Heritage Officer for Merton, believes it is vital to remember those who sacrificed their lives.
“It’s very important to record the stories of family members that they may have spoken to while we still have time,” she explained.
“Merton is no different to any part of the UK where you have substantial loss of life.
“Faces you would have seen on the street every day are no longer there – it’s important to safeguard those memories before they are lost.”
As part of the project the council’s heritage and local studies team will be holding several war story days and events over the next two years.
This will give people an opportunity to find out about the role of Merton residents on the Home Front as well as their life stories.
“We’re investing in various items like some of our precious war time documents to conserve for posterity.
“It’s one thing to see a name carved into the stone on a memorial, but if you know what that persons’ family life was like then you see them as a person as opposed to a name just carved in stone, and that’s the real rationale of the project.”
More than 1200 people from Merton lost their life in the First World War.
Merton Council’s cabinet member for community and culture, Councillor Nick Drape, said: “We can take some of the moss of time off a hundred years on.
“Using the archives we can show that these were people like you and I.
“If you take it back to the individual then you understand the true tragedy and the true pointlessness of a war like that particular war was.”
Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, said: “From army camps and major recruitment centres to the sheltering of refugees and the work of local suffragettes, Merton has a wealth of First World War heritage, but it is not very well known.
“We’re pleased to support Carved in Stone which will ensure the borough’s wartime story and its continuing legacy is shared and heard by the local community for generations to come.”
