Museum appeal for information for war exhibition

Westbury Museum is calling on local people to share information about those named on the town’s war memorial. 

On Remembrance Sunday in November 1949, the war memorial in the Market Place was rededicated after the addition of the names of the 30 men from the town lost on active service in the Second World War.

As Remembrance Sunday approaches, museum volunteers have been researching the lives of these 30 men. They are asking local people with knowledge of these men to contact the museum and share any information.

From the middle of October until the middle of November, these stories will be displayed in a new exhibition at the museum on the first floor of the Westbury library.

“Whilst doing research on the war years, we came across newspaper reports about casualties and decided they should be recorded for the families of those men and because their stories are an important part of the history of Westbury,” said Liz Argent from the museum.

“Volunteers found information for 28 men, with photographs for some of them. It was discovered that two sets of brothers are on the memorial, but despite extensive efforts, volunteers have not been able to correctly identify J Mead or F Griffin.”

For some men, little more than their rank, unit and parents’ names were found, and the museum is now looking for help from local people to fill in the gaps.

Museum volunteers are appealing for relatives of the men named on the memorial to get in touch. To share information, visit the museum or email info@westburyheritagesociety.org.uk

Pictured: The war memorial in 1949