A community action group have launched a project to create a permanent memorial in Romford Cemetery to civilians who died in World War Two after a letter from one of the families of a victim in the Romford Recorder.

The Rush Green Regeneration Group want to create the memorial to 16 civilian victims of World War Two air raids who are buried in unmarked graves in Romford Cemetery.

Chair of the group, David Hodge said: “I think it would mean more to the community at large and especially those people who are still alive and who may actually remember the some of these people who died.”

The inspiration for the memorial came from a letter published in the Romford Recorder in May from Brian Ridington whose 10 month old uncle died during a World War Two air raid in Woseley Road in 1941.

In the letter, Mr Riddington says that he had recently found the grave of his uncle and had marked it with a small plaque, but there was no permanent memorial to any of the other victims.

Mr Riddington said: “It would really mean a lot to my family because we have been trying to get them all recognised for a long time.”

The unmarked graves are believed to be of the other victims of the Wolseley Road air raid in 1941 and the victims of other air raids.

Mr Riddington claims that his family like many of the others were told that the graves would be looked after by the cememtry association but many of them have been neglected over the years.

Most recently he has approached a number of associations about getting a permanent memorial.

He said: “I think that during the war there was no money to do anything for the victims and they were told that a memorial would be done at a later stage but it never happened.”

The association are now seeking external funding to try to create the memorial.