Regiment monument plea backed by MPs
A campaign for a permanent memorial to Shropshire's historic Army regiment has won the backing of all five of the county's MPs.
They have pledged their support to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry Memorial Appeal which is raising funds to pay for a monument to the men of the county killed in action in the service of their country, and in particular to the 4,663 soldiers of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry who died during the First World War.
Four of the five MPs – Conservatives Daniel Kawczynski, Owen Paterson, Philip Dunne and Mark Pritchard, joined together to support the appeal at Shirehall in Shrewsbury. Telford MP David Wright, who is also supporting the appeal, was unavailable for the event.
Maurice Halliday, a former warrant officer in the regiment, said: "This county's regiment is one of the few which does not have its own memorial and in this anniversary year it was felt that now is the time to put this right.
"The plan is for the memorial to be a solid block of green granite measuring 2m x 1.5m and faced with the battle honours of the regiment together with its famous bugle badge.
"We hope to raise the funds for this so as to complete the project by September this year, the exact month of the start of World War One 100 years ago."
Mr Halliday said the appeal needed to raise about £28,000.
About £10,000 has been raised in the first four months, and the appeal organisers hope business sponsors will now get involved. The location for the memorial has yet to be decided.
He added: "All Shropshire's town councils were asked if they would consider supporting our appeal and already we have received generous donations from Bridgnorth, Bishop's Castle and Ludlow with many more considering our request."
The memorial itself will be made by D&G Stone Services of Craven Arms.
Donations can be made to the event collectors or to The KSLI Memorial Appeal, The Shropshire Regimental Museum, The Castle, Shrewsbury, SY1 3AT.
