A RETIRED veteran is appealing for help with a project looking to reinstate the names of survivors on Over Wallop’s war memorial.

Ben Cartwright has been pushing ahead to restore four crumbling pillars which documents the names of all the village’s soldiers that survived the First World War, which have not been legible since the 1960s.

The project, called They Also Served, aims to replace the pillars with the same stone to get the memorial looking as it did 100 years ago.

Mr Cartwright said: “Some years back I came up with the idea as there is a problem with our memorial.

“I realised these guys came back and in the days of WW1 they didn’t come back to happy lives. They came back with injuries and mental stress as well. Now we’re into [the] 100th year of commemoration of WW1, I thought it was time to do something.

“Some people’s families are on here [the memorial] and this is the key heritage spot in the village.”

Fellow Over Wallop resident Peter Hope is working with Mr Cartwright on restoring the village landmark, which also includes names of soldiers who died from the First World War up to the conflict in Afghanistan.

Survivors’ names will be copied from St Peter’s Church’s scroll listing of men who served in the Great War.

An initial fundraiser is taking place in St Peter’s Church, on 7 April at 7pm with a talk from explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell called A Life of Adventure.

The former Royal Engineers captain will share his experiences, from discovering white water rafting “by accident” to the quest for a mammoth-like elephant in Nepal.

Tickets for £10 can be bought on the door and the event will also take donations to go towards the restoration project.

Mr Hope said: “It will be a really exciting evening. It starts with songs from the First World War sung by the Wallop Amateur Singers and Performers (WASPs), so it will be an interesting evening of songs and adventure.”

Mr Cartwright added: “We need quite a lot of money [for the project], there are various charities that do make grants towards it and we’re very grateful to them as well as anybody that gives us money is wonderful.”

To find out more contact Peter Hope on 01264 781880