THE names of more than 50 fallen soldiers will be honoured again on Remembrance Sunday after bronze plaques desecrated by thieves were replaced.
Workmen have refitted the plaques at a memorial in Philips Park cemetery in east Manchester after a £10,000 restoration bid.
Thieves sparked outrage when the panels, which honoured soldiers from both the First and Second World Wars, were stolen to be sold as scrap just days before Remembrance Sunday last year. Now all have been replaced in time for this year's commemorations.
They were unveiled and blessed by the Bishop of Middleton, the Rt Rev Mark Davies, at a rededication service on Saturday.
Workmen appointed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission replaced the plaques at the site after they were handmade by a specialist bronze casting company in Australia.
The new panels are exact copies of those taken and honour soldiers from the Manchester Regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Cheshire Regiment.
Chris Makinson, county chairman of the Royal British Legion, said: "This is so important to so many people. "It is great news that everything will be in place before Remembrance Sunday."
A dedication service will be taking place on Sunday after the annual Remembrance Sunday service at 11am at the nearby Clayton Park.
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Its a sign of our terrible times taht British trash steal these plaques & foreign craftsmen replace them ......
As an ex serviceman I was disgusted to learn of this theft. Good to see it will be ready for Rememberence Sunday. Now that the Bishop has given his blessing to the memorial perhaps he will now travel over to Levenshulme to the former Christain Church of St.John's. It is now an Islamic Centre where Christian graves and headstones have been desecrated with headstones crushed into hardcore for the new Mosque's car-park! Those in the council who allowed this to happen should be hauled before the courts.
Tony, that's the same as the shocking scenes in Schindler's List where Jewish headstones were pulled down and used for paving stones. If this is true then it's equally shocking.
Good to see the memorial in place, but why have a bishop unveil it? What is a 'blessing' supposed to achieve?
Why not have somebody with an ounce of importance unveil it instead?