Plans to name and honour Falkirk's war dead by extending cenotaph

Friends of Falkirk War Memorial hope to raise £130,000 to extend and refurbish the cenotaph in Dollar Park.

Falkirk Council has approved a planning proposal to add extend the war memorial to incorporate plaques with the names of 1100 Bairns who died in World War I and the 450 who were killed in World War II.

The existing memorial was unveiled in 1926 by the Duke of Montrose but does not pay tribute to any of the soldiers from either conflict.

Volunteers from Friends of Falkirk War Memorial aim to have all the local war dead named at the memorial and make the site more accessible from Dollar Park itself.

The idea came from former Falkirk Provost and current councillor Pat Reid.

Mr Reid said: “We will launch our project in January 2019 and we hope the work will be completed by next November.

“There are no names on the memorial at all which is unusual but we have managed to do some research and have found all the names of the men that gave their lives in both wars.

“It was quite a task but we got there. There are about eight of us in the group and we are all volunteers. I expect more people will join us in the coming months.”

The project has been supported by Falkirk Council, Friends of Dollar Park and the Argylls Association.

Falkirk High School and many of the primary schools in the town have been conducting some research to find out about the men who were killed in both conflicts.

New supporters and volunteers who feel they could contribute their skills and spare time to the programme are encouraged to get in touch.

Those who are interested can contact Friends of Falkirk War Memorial via email on [email protected] or by calling 01324 628379.

A fundraising campaign has been launched online and can be viewed at https://falkirkwarmemorial.wordpress.com/.