War graves cleaned ready for remembrance

Merridale Cemetery off Jeffcock Road, Penn Fields, is the final resting place of 200 service personnel who lost their lives in the first and second world wars.

The plots are officially recognised as Commonwealth War Graves and form part of more than 306,000 memorials which the CWGC are responsible for maintaining in the UK.

The cemetery also contains the graves of a number of Dutch soldiers from the Princess Irene Brigade who were stationed just outside Wolverhampton during the Second World War.

Mayor Councillor Dr Michael Hardacre assembled a team of volunteers made up of fellow councillors, local authority staff and members of the CWGC to carry out the cleaning project.

He said: “Merridale is a beautiful cemetery and final resting place for these war heroes, and every year it hosts a service where serving Dutch soldiers come over to remember their comrades who died during the Second World War.

“My team and I were only too happy to offer our services to the CWGC to help clean the graves so they are looking their best in time for this year’s remembrance service in November.

“We were delighted to be joined by Councillor Greg Brackenridge, a veteran himself and our Armed Forces Covenant Champion, and Councillor Jacqueline Sweetman.

“The commission do wonderful work maintaining a vast number of memorials at home and abroad, and they value the help of volunteers very highly.

“As well as giving some of our local war graves a clean, we wanted to raise awareness of the splendid work the commission and its volunteers do.”

Councillor Brackenridge said: “Every year the city remembers those in the armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“Many of the graves at Jeffcock Road are those of the Netherlands soldiers from the Princess Irene Brigade, buried alongside British comrades reminding us of the human cost of war and how the world came together to fight for all our futures.

“It is fitting that the mayor called on the armed forces and volunteer community to ensure that these graves were maintained and cleaned to the standards we would expect and that they deserve.

“As chair of the Armed Forces Covenant Board, I was only too willing to assist the CWGC and the mayor in this endeavour.”

The commission works closely with volunteers from its Eyes On, Hands On project, so both Councillor Dr Hardacre and Councillor Brackenridge offered their services along with staff working in the mayoral office, using some of their annual leave to volunteer for the clean-up.

Andy Knowlson, regional manager for the CWGC, said: “We would like to thank the mayor and his team for giving up their time to help with cleaning the headstones at Merridale Cemetery.

“It was a very productive day which we all appreciated.”

Each year, Merridale Cemetery hosts a memorial service organised by the Royal British Legion.

The mayor and mayoress regularly walk their dog Emily, a terrier cross, in the cemetery grounds and she also came down to supervise the cleaning on Wednesday.

Anyone who would like to find out more about the commission and volunteering opportunities in the Wolverhampton area should email local coordinator, Sarah Hann at sarah.hann@cwgc.org