MP Philip Dunne backs campaign to document UK's war memorials

The initiative, which is supported by the Imperial War Museums (IWM), calls on the public to help document and verify the archives and records of the country's war memorials.

IWM’s War Memorials Register aims to compile a comprehensive and accurate record of all of the UK’s war memorials, and to make this resource freely available to the public.

People across Shropshire can contribute to the WMR by assessing their local war memorial, checking whether it is recorded with photographs, and if not, submitting details to IWM’s online register.

Mr Dunne said: “At this time of conflict in Ukraine, we see the barbaric treatment by the Russian Army of those killed in conflict.

"Failure to bury their own dead is a mark of the disdain in which President Putin holds his own people, let alone those under attack whether military or civilian.

"The contrast with the work of the Imperial War Museums to respect and memorialise those who fell in the service of our country speaks volumes."

War memorials across the UK play an important role in communities in remembering those who served and lost their lives in service of the country.

They also offer a physical space for families to remember and honour those who gave their lives.

The War Memorials Register currently holds records of 96,000 war memorials across the United Kingdom, although there are an estimated 110,000 in total.

Photographs are an important part of the Register, but currently around 46,000 of the existing records lack good or recent images, or are unaccounted for.

It is hoped that the IWM can get as many as these records completed as possible, through the work of local communities, by Remembrance Day this year.

Mr Dunne added: "As one of two parliamentary commissioners on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, I am aware of the close cooperation with the Imperial War Museums regarding memorials to our war dead.

"I shall take photographs of memorials in South Shropshire as I see them, if they are not already included on the IWM database, and encourage local residents to do the same as we approach War Graves Week in a month’s time, so that the campaign can conclude by Remembrance Day.”