Campaign to add names to memorial

Jean Louth raised thousands of pounds to help create the memorial

The people of Portsmouth are being asked to help complete work on a memorial to those from the city who died during World War II.

The names of more than 3,500 local services personnel who were killed in WWII are not on the obelisk in memory of the dead next to the Guildhall.

The families of the dead are now trying to raise £100,000 have their relatives' names inscribed on tablets.

The WWII memorial was erected in 2005 next to the main WWI obelisk.

But there was not enough money to put up stone tablets behind it and have the names of the fallen soldiers added to them.

It is estimated that it will cost about £30 to inscribe each name.

How will they be remembered unless their names are there? Jean Louth, fundraiser

Jean Louth, whose father Harry Short died at Dunkirk, spent years raising £20,000 to pay for the building of the memorial, while the city council put £30,000 towards it.

Mrs Louth said: "When I'm gone who is going to remember people like my father?

"There must be many, many people now, whose fathers, perhaps even grandfathers, were killed in that war.

"How will they be remembered unless their names are there?

Colin Barrell, who designed the memorial, said raising the money would be a difficult task.

He said: "People just haven't got the money to spend on items that occurred 60 or 70 years ago, unfortunately.

"Maybe in two years' time the pockets may become a bit deeper and maybe they'll put their hands in their pockets then.

"But at the moment it's very, very difficult."

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The memorial was erected in 2005