Arguments over the omission of the names of nearly 250 war dead from Edgware war memorial intensified this week.

There was outcry after it emerged last week that the names of World War Two servicemen from Burnt Oak and Edgware were missing. Harrow Council, which has responsibility for the High Street memorial, is embroiled in a row with Barnet War Memorials Initiative (BWMI) over the missing names.

It drew extra fire after failing to send a representative to Sunday's Remembrance Day service a council spokesman said they had not been invited.

Veterans also complained the memorial had not been cleaned up.

Harrow councillor Dan Redford this week denied claims by BWMI that his colleagues had failed to attend meetings to discuss a solution.

"We are absolutely 100 per cent full-square behind solving this problem. We want a meeting with BWMI to sort this out," he said.

But Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Mann, BWMI chairman, laughed off Mr Redford's claim. His group has overseen the successful renovation of Barnet's memorials.

"We have been inviting them since our inception in 1994 and every time we have a meeting all we get is a letter from Harrow apologising for non-attendance," he said.

Six years ago Harrow Council mooted the idea of memorial books in libraries as a way of replacing the need for names, although this has not happened.

"We wouldn't be prepared to go along with that. We feel these war dead are entitled to have their names put on the memorial like everybody else," added Lt Col Mann.

Former soldier David Tomlins, who has been campaigning for Harrow to complete the memorial for years, accused them of a cop out.

His views were echoed by Margaret Brogan, treasurer of the New Edgware branch of the Royal British Legion. "It doesn't seem to be of very much importance to Harrow," she added.

November 14, 2001 17:29