I WAS asked last week in Coleford if the Clock Tower was the First World War memorial. Of course, I was obliged to admit that it was not, but a nice thought.

I was fortunate to be able to explain that it is to be found in the Parish church of St John the Evangelist and it is the reredos behind the high altar. In that edifice there is an aumbry in which was kept a parchment bearing the names of the fallen and it was taken out at Remembrance tide and the names read.

At some point this practice was set aside and their names were put on display permanently on a triptych on the south wall.

After the Second War the fallen were again remembered by installing new seating and the names of the dead placed (carved on a wooden plaque) on the north wall.

Since that time a wooden plaque has been added to the memory of Wilfred George in Korea and one to Mark Simmonds in Bosnia.

On November 11 each year we not only remember our war dead but also the blessed St Martin of Tours who was himself a Roman cavalry officer at the remarkable age of 15. At 17 he resigned his commission and gave his life to Holy Mother church. Could it be by accident or design that the Armistice was signed on his Feast Day? – T.T.E. Ballinger, reader emeritus, Victoria Road, Coleford.