Guest Column: New memorial will honour all the county's WWI heroes

There are currently hundreds of smaller, individual memorials to Nottinghamshire’s Great War fallen, scattered across the county in towns, villages, churches and workplaces.

But now, for the first time ever, the names of the more than14,000 Nottinghamshire soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire who lost their lives in the First World War will appear on the same monument.

A single, central memorial bearing the names of every man and woman – both civilian and military – who died as a result of this catastrophic conflict will serve as a powerful and poignant reminder about the ultimate sacrifice they made for us.

The names to appear on the memorial will be drawn from Nottinghamshire’s official Great War Roll of Honour, which can be found online at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/rollofhonour.

This is a fantastic online resource including not only the names of those fallen, but many other details about them, including, in many instances, their family history, the circumstances of their death, their age, regiment, rank and a photograph.

I would urge anyone who knows of an ancestor from Nottinghamshire who died in the Great War to check that that person’s name is included and submit any missing names or details by email to [email protected] as soon as possible.

Designs for the monument, which will be situated in the Memorial Gardens on Nottingham’s Victoria Embankment are currently under consideration.

It will become a focal point for the entire county and is being funded by Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council, along with the county’s seven district and borough councils – Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe Gedling, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood and Rushcliffe.

To make this important monument a reality, the council is hoping to raise a further £50,000 in donations from businesses and local people, in addition to the £270,000 pledged by the local authorities.

To donate, please visit the website nosf.org.uk/roll-of-honour

I hope you can support this initiative.

From the young men who perished miles away from home and the medics who died trying to save them, to the many who passed away from their injuries and those who were killed whilst working in the munitions factories back home, we owe them all a huge debt of gratitude.