FOR some long time I have had it in mind to write to you regarding the war memorial that stands on the market square in Huntingdon. After the Great War (1914-18) the good people of Huntingdon erected the memorial of The Thinking Soldier to the memory of

FOR some long time I have had it in mind to write to you regarding the war memorial that stands on the market square in Huntingdon.

After the Great War (1914-18) the good people of Huntingdon erected the memorial of 'The Thinking Soldier' to the memory of the men and boys of Huntingdon who took up arms against the forces of evil. And upon it with pride they carved the names of the men and boys who made the supreme sacrifice during that conflict.

Again, after the Second World War (1939-45) the people of the town of Huntingdon carved upon the war memorial the names of those people of the town who in uniform gave their lives in the fight against the dictators of evil for the freedoms that we all enjoy to this day.

These names were added to the panel on the memorial just below the names of those heroes of the Great War.

Some time ago there was a local council decision to re-pave the market square with brick, I believe it was also proposed to re-site the war memorial to some out-of-the-way corner so as not to interfere with the layout of 'Red Square'.

However, the memorial was replaced in the centre, but missing were the plate with the names carved in it and one other plate that has been sited in All Saints' Church grounds. Two new plates have been fitted to the memorial plinth but they do not refer to the townspeople of Huntingdon.

When I enquired about this of some council servant, I was given short shrift and told I did not know what I was talking about and that in any case the names were on a banner hanging in the council chamber in the top of the Town Hall.

Now that is all very fine, but how do people, in particular the crippled, get to the top of the Town Hall? Or who informs any visitors who wish to read the inscriptions, where to look?

Were these alterations made after consulting the local British Legion branch or is it because the present citizens of the town of Huntingdon don't give a damn?

Both my brother and I were in uniform during the 1939-45 conflict, as was our father during the 1914-18 war, in the Royal Flying Corps. I am of the opinion that the names should be reinstated on the memorial. And perhaps the vandals who destroyed the original monument should be made to stand in front of it, hang their heads in shame and apologise.

VICTOR J SKERRY, Victoria Crescent, Wyton