The names of 182 men listed on a church memorial will be read out at a Remembrance Day service at St Mary’s Church, Summerstown, this weekend.
Summerstown182 project started two years ago by Geoff Simmons, aims to tell the story of a community by identifying the 182 names on the World War I memorial at St Mary’s Church, Wimbledon Road.
With the help of 20 volunteers, Mr Simmons has managed to identify the full names, regiment, date of death and addresses of 179 of the 182 and the full names will be read out at the Remembrance Day service this year.
January 2014: Project to trace 182 soldiers on Earlsfield war memorial
May 2014: Appeal to find relatives of forgotten WWI soldier Thomas Carrigan
Mr Simmons said some more common names made the task very difficult, with six Browns and five Smiths on the list.
He said the last three, EL Smith, E Brown and GF Henry, are mysteries and the only way they will ever be able to identify them is with the help of relatives.
The names get read out every year but, thanks to the project, the true identify of almost all of the 182 is now also known.
Last year, the names were read by Mr Simmons and Reverend Roger Ryan.
Geoff Simmons leads a Summerstown Walk
This year Sophie Edwards and Lily Jeffrey, members of St Mary’s Church, will do the honours.
Mr Simmons said: “It’s very emotional and takes about ten minutes to get through everyone.”
It is part of a four-year commemoration project which Mr Simmons hopes will receive Heritage Lottery funding.
Mr Simmons said: “The aim is to promote knowledge and appreciation of history in the area, making people aware they live in a very special and unique part of south-west London.”
He said they have accumulated so many stories that there are now two circuits of the tour.
Mr Simmons has been in touch with schools in the area, including Burntwood and Ernest Bevin.
He said: “We really want to reach out with this project-young people can better understand the events of 100 years ago if they can relate it to their local area.”
The next guided walk is on Saturday, November 7, starting at 2pm outside St Mary’s Church, in Wimbledon Road, SW17, and the service is on Sunday, November 8, at St Mary’s Church at 10.30am.
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