Fitting memorial for heroes

PRIVATE William Colclough was just a week away from returning home to the Potteries when he was killed in action in the Second World War.

The 21-year-old sniper had survived D Day, only to lose his life during the liberation of Le Havre in France. The date was September 10, 1944.

Now, virtually 65 years to the day, he has been remembered through a new war memorial in Tunstall Memorial Gardens.

The curved wall charts the names of 648 of Tunstall's sons who went off to war, never to return. It was officially unveiled on Saturday and marks the culmination of a 12-year campaign to honour the town's war dead.

Their deaths span 1914 to 1973, from the battlefields of the First World War to the streets of Northern Ireland.

Pam Colclough, aged 49, from Mill Hill, attended the ceremony to pay a personal tribute. She said: "William Colclough was my dad's brother. It's been emotional seeing his name."

Pam's sister, Margaret Sadler, is the secretary of Tunstall War Memorial Committee and was also moved to tears.

"I never thought we would do it," said Margaret, surveying the 16 plaques on the wall. "William would have thought the memorial was marvellous."

Committee members have been the driving force behind the campaign and have raised £9,200 towards the new memorial. Chairman Doug Green, who lives in Tunstall, said: "The money has come from donations, dances, raffles, and collections at Port Vale and in the town. I'm told the memorial has cost £27,000 but there are outstanding grants."

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has also thrown its support behind the project. And so, too, have individuals like stonemason Ivan Ash, who donated his services for free.

On Saturday, war veterans, scouts, and cadets staged a parade through Tunstall, marching to the beat of the Band of the Black Watch Regiment.

Their march ended in the memorial gardens, where Stoke-on-Trent's Lord Mayor Jean Bowers and the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, James Hawley, helped unveil the wall.

The service also saw prayers, hymns, the laying of flowers and crosses, and a rendition of the Last Post.

Ray Cope, who painstakingly researched the names of Tunstall's war dead from archives, church plaques and other sources, said: "It has been a phenomenal journey and we haven't come to the end of it."

Space has been left on two of the plaques for any further names, including soldiers whose details have not yet been verified.