A PROJECT to chronicle residents of Whitchurch and Malpas who died during the Second World Wars has been completed.

Volunteers from Whitchurch Museum and Archives have been busy researching the names of all 40 Whitchurch men who died in action during the Second World War as well as the 19 Malpas residents.

The project was done in part for VE Day, but because of COVID-19, any further events to highlight the soldiers have been postponed until later in the year.

Terry Fry, volunteer at Whitchurch Museum, believes that many of the soldier's relatives may still be living in the area and encourages them to get in touch.

He said: "When we knew that Whitchurch and Malpas were going to have VE75 celebrations we discussed with the organising committees having some way of remembering those who lost their lives as part of those celebrations

"We have researched the 40 men commemorated in Whitchurch and the 19 in Malpas to find out what we can about their military exploits and their lives before the war.

"As an interim measure, given the postponement of VE75 events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have added a thumbnail sketch for each man onto the Heritage centre website

"The plan is to have the postponed VE75 events once the COVID-19 lockdown relaxation allows in both locations and we will present these thumbnails at each of the celebration events.

"We will be present to answer questions from family members and members of the public

"The research has highlighted how different the Second World War was to the First World War.

"Deaths from the air force and at sea were prominent in the Second World War, whereas most of the First World War deaths were on land from shelling and trench warfare.

"We believe that there will be family members still living in Whitchurch and are keen to engage so we can add personal memories and items to our research."

The online archive can be found at whitchurch-heritage.co.uk under the 'WW2' tab.