The 29 forgotten heroes of our country - and the wrong that Salford's putting right
11.09.2022 - 20:45
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Their names are not carved on the city's Cenotaphs like their brothers in arms who fell in the First and Second World Wars. But they too paid the ultimate price for serving their country.
The theatres of conflict where they died came after 1945 - Palestine, Korea, Suez, Malaysia, the streets of Northern Ireland, and Afghanistan. But all 29 had links to the towns which make up the borough of Salford. They were either born in the city, lived or worked there, or are buried there.
An 18-year-old died in one of the most savage battles of the Korean War in a brutally cold winter 72 years ago. Seven were killed while serving during The Troubles in Northern Ireland; and two in Afghanistan.
Now, finally, thanks to one man's determination, there will be a permanent memorial to them. Their names and regiments will be embossed on a new plaque to be erected on a wall behind the existing Cenotaph in Swinton town centre.
The victory comes a decade after Salford council first promised a review into how to remember every Salford soldier killed in conflict since 1945 after a plaque was installed in Irlam's Prince's Park to honour Fusilier Simon Annis, 22, who died in Afghanistan in 2009.
Eight years ago, Glenn Croston, of Salford Veterans Association, met with a council officer. "I asked if there was a memorial to service men and women who had died post 1945 in action. He said there wasn't but gave me a copy of names he had obtained from the MOD. I did more research by contacting the regiments who were extremely helpful, as were Salford Registry Office.
"I asked if there could be a monument to these men but was told by the council that due to the Swinton Development Plan which is still being considered they could not erect a memorial. As