Merridale Cemetery, off Jeffcock Road, Penn Fields, is the final resting place
of 200 service personnel who lost their lives in the first and second world
wars. The plots are officially recognised as Commonwealth War Graves and
form part of more than 306,000 memorials which the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission (CWGC) are responsible for maintaining in the UK.
Merridale Cemetery contains not only the graves of British servicemen, but
also those of a number of Dutch soldiers from the Princess Irene Brigade who
were stationed just outside Wolverhampton during the Second World War.
In July, the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Cllr Dr Michael Hardacre and Cllr Greg
Brackenridge, a former Mayor and current Armed Forces Covenant
Champion, wrote to the CWGC saying that the memorials at Merridale were in
need of a clean.
The Commission works closely with volunteers from its ‘Eyes On, Hands On’
project - so both councillors offered their services as well as those of the staff
working in the Mayoral office, using some of their two-days annual
volunteering leave, to help with the clean-up.
They joined forces with the commission on Wednesday (27 September) to
give as many of the graves as possible a clean to ensure they were looking
their best in time for Remembrance Weekend in November.
Each year, Merridale Cemetery hosts a memorial service organised by the
Royal British Legion and a contingent from the Princess Irene Brigade in The
Netherlands continue to come over each year to remember their fallen
comrades.
The Mayor and Mayoress also regularly walk their dog Emily, a terrier cross,
in the cemetery grounds and she also came down to supervise the cleaning
on Wednesday.
Mayor Hardacre said: “Merridale is a beautiful cemetery and final resting
place for these war heroes and every year it hosts a service where serving
Dutch soldiers come over to remember their comrades who died during the
Second World War.
“My team and I were only too happy to offer our services to the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission to help to clean the graves so they
are looking their best in time for this year’s service in November. We were
delighted to be joined by Cllr Greg Brackenridge, a veteran himself and our

Armed Forces Covenant Champion and Cllr Jacqueline Sweetman a local
ward councillor.
“The commission do wonderful work maintaining a vast number of memorials
at home and abroad, and they value the help of volunteers very highly. As
well as giving some of our local war graves a clean, we wanted to raise
awareness of the splendid work the commission and its volunteers do.”
Andy Knowlson, a Regional Manager for the CWGC, said: "We would like to
thank the Mayor and his team for giving up their time to help with cleaning the
headstones at Merridale Cemetery. It was a very productive day, which we all
appreciated."
Sarah Hann, local coordinator for the CWGC’s Eyes On Hands On scheme,
said: “We were delighted to welcome the council team to Merridale Cemetery
this week.
“I could see the team felt a great sense of respect for the men and women of
the city who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. Everyone
wanted to make a difference and was pleased to be able to spend time
helping at the cemetery.”
Anyone who would like to find out more about the commission and
volunteering opportunities in the Wolverhampton area should email local
coordinator, Sarah Hann at sarah.hann@cwgc.org