THE past two weeks, and previously, have seen letters in the Times concerning whether or not the town war memorial should be removed from its present position in Guildhall Square and re-sited elsewhere in the parish.

The undersigned were the prime movers, some ten years ago, in requesting the town council to re-site the memorial, a request which resulted in the council having an agreed policy to have a referendum of all the parish electors to gauge whether there was parish support for such a move. The result of this referendum gave overwhelming support for a move to the south-east corner of the parish churchyard, a result against which the town council has showed total indifference in its refusal to carry out such a move and, today, seemingly refuse to answer straight questions as to why nothing has been done.

The initial request by the undersigned was made for three reasons, all of which concerned offering this wonderful memorial, commemorating the sacrifice of the town's fallen, the dignity and respect which it surely deserves; the reasons were that the present memorial  is sited next to a public toilet, situated centrally in a public carpark.

The relatives of the fallen opted for the memorial to be placed in the parish churchyard, the only reason why it was not so sited being a shortfall of funds raised by public subscription immediately following World War One.

We continue to be extremely disappointed that the town council continues to refuse to honour the result of their referendum. 

The story of the siting of the memorial has, all the way along, been dogged by considerations of cost, and no-one doubts that its removal would incur a cost.

How sad to hear people of all ages, who live in freedom because so many sacrificed their lives, arguing that we cannot afford to do the right thing by the memory of our dead heroes — may we be forgiven for saying that we cannot afford to honour our debt. 

The published suggestions that this memorial should be placed in Bank Square or the Meadows, in no way whatsoever offer the dignity and respect which our town war memorial deserves .

Alex Mettler

Gerry Woodcock

Tavistock