Exmouth heroes immortalised

THE honoured names of two of Exmouth’s sons who paid the highest price have been engraved on the Strand War Memorial

THE honoured names of two of Exmouth’s sons who paid the highest price have been engraved on the Strand War Memorial, thanks to a flood of donations from residents.

Donations totalling around �650 to the Royal British Legion have led to the names of Royal Marine Corporal Steve ‘Whiskey’ Walker and Gunnner Kinikki ‘Griff’ Griffiths being added to the list of our honoured dead.

Now the Exmouth Memorial Fund is talking to the families to arrange to an official dedication service for our fallen heroes.

Attending the placing of the tablet on the memorial last week, carved by Orchard Memorials, was Lionel Howell and Ron Phebey of the Exmouth Memorial Fund and Tom Harvey-May of the Royal British Legion.

Mr Harvey-May said: “We will be speaking to the families to arrange a dedication service.

“It cost about �345 for the two inscriptions but the public’s support has been truly astonishing.

“I have had people shove �5 and �10 notes through my letter box and in just a few weeks we now have �650 in the pot.”

Mr Howell said: “We now need to raise around �1,000 to hold in reserve, god forbid, in case of more casualties and a little to ensure we keep the memorial clean and properly maintained and ensuring our work will continue when called upon to honour those we hold so dear.”

Cpl. Walker was killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Sangin, Afghanistan on May 21 while on foot patrol.

Gunner Griffiths, 20, of 1 squadron Royal Air Force Regiment, was killed in a road accident near Camp Bastion in Helmand Province in July.

Anyone wising to donate to the fund can do so via the Halifax, sort code; 11-02-09, account number: 00256605.