A HISTORIAN is on a mission to match memories with the names of heroes commemorated on Sedgley’s war memorial.

There are around 70 servicemen named on the memorial at Saints' Church in Vicar Street but Martin Jones says there may be more names to be added.

He is also appealing to people from the area to contact him if they have information on photographs about relatives who fought and died in World War One.

Mr Jones said: "We're recording the information we collect on the All Saints' church website and plan to contribute to the World War One exhibition in the summer at the new Dudley Archives Centre.

“Sedgley lads were deployed widely, to most theatres of war, for example Turkey (the Gallipoli campaign) and Iraq. While most of the dead were in the local South Staffordshire Regiment, some also served in other regiments up and down the country.”

This year marks a century since the outbreak of the Great War an historians at the church have already been working to match names with records held by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Census of 1911.

Mr Jones added: “Some dreadful tragedies have already emerged: one soldier is recorded as being killed shortly before the Armistice was signed on 11th November 1918; and a local sailor was killed in a disastrous accident in the North Sea, when HMS Bulwark exploded in 1914 killing him and 700 of his shipmates.”

Anyone with information can contact Martin Jones by emailing mmjones29@blueyonder.co.uk