Damien Moore MP asks Southport residents to embrace War Graves Week.

Damien Moore, MP for Southport, is calling on residents of Southport to come together and discover the World War heritage on their doorstep by embracing War Graves Week, which runs 21 May to 28 May, and is an initiative from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

War Graves Week encourages Southport’s local residents to learn about the stories of those commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Southport and the skills, dedication, and expertise of those CWGC staff who work to keep their memory alive.

Southport residents keen to learn more about the remarkable stories of the men and women of the Commonwealth forces that died in the First and Second World Wars who are buried in their community can visit www.CWGC.org and visit the cemeteries closest to them in person.

War Graves Week provides a unique chance for the people of Southport to reconnect with their local history, and in particular the CWGC sites at St. Cuthbert’s Churchyard, St. Duke’s Cemetery, and Holy Trinity Churchyard.

At www.CWGC.org, residents of Southport can learn about the Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times project, which is the focus of this year’s War Graves Week. Alongside the front-line armed forces, the CWGC will be celebrating the value those who served during the World Wars brought to key sectors such as healthcare, logistics, infrastructure and communications, and the parallels with today’s global Britain which they helped to create.

Separately, in April this year Mr. Moore launched an initiative in Parliament, supported by the Imperial War Museums, to support local war memorials. Joined by 50 MPs and the Minister for Heritage, Nigel Huddleston MP, Mr. Moore called on the public to help document and verify the archives and records of as many of our nation’s important war memorials as possible ahead of this year’s Remembrance Day.

Damien Moore, MP for Southport, said:

“I encourage all my constituents to embrace War Graves Week. It’s a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with our local history and learn about the courageous ordinary people from our community who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

“Behind every name on a war grave or memorial in Southport is a human story waiting to be discovered, something that I have been aiming to promote with my initiative to support local war memorials, supported by the Imperial War Museums, and something that I am proud to support in the CWGC’s War Graves Week.”