The chairman of South Holland District Council has announced he will be supporting the Spalding WWII Memorial as his charity of the year.
The charity is looking to raise £60,000 to have a new memorial for those who were killed in World War Two.
Coun Rodney Grocock, who took office in March, said the cause was “dear to his heart” and he would be helping the charity achieve its goal of a new Spalding memorial in 2019.
“I am looking forward to assisting the charity in raising the money required to design and build the memorial in time for November 11, 2019, to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two,” he said.
The charity is planning to build a new memorial in the Peace Garden at Ayscoughee Hall. An artist’s impression, above, has been created.
The fallen of World War One are already commemorated with a Lutyens’ memorial which was dedicated in 1922.
The cloister, or Temple of Remembrance, cost £3,500 and was paid for by local people.
But there is no central memorial for Second World War.
“This new memorial will allow people from South Holland and beyond to visit a special place to think of members of their family and friends who gave their lives for the freedom we enjoy today,” said Coun Grocock, who served with the Royal Navy for 12 years.
The charity raised almost £500 at Spalding’s recent 1940s event.
“While those who died in World War One are immortalised on the Lutyens’ memorial, the names of those who gave their lives in World War Two are either represented on memorials which are scattered around Spalding or not recorded at all,” says the charity website.
There are currently 115 names which will be included.
The new memorial will be built on the site of a drinking fountain in the gardens which will be relocated.
More details about the scheme can be found at www.spaldingwwiimemorial.org
Sir Edwin Lutyens was an architect and he designed The Cenotaph in London’s Whitehall, commissioned before the Armistice by Prime Minister David Lloyd George.
