LAUNCESTON Town Council has agreed to purchase seven silhouette memorials to mark the final year of the World War One centenary.

The silhouettes of the Tommy, Navy, Flying Corps, Commonwealth soldier, nurse, munitions worker and suffragette will be installed around the town in time for the Remembrance Service in November.

The recommendation to purchase the memorials was brought to the full town council meeting on Tuesday, September 18, by deputy mayor Cllr Dave Gordon.

He had discussed, at a previous town council meeting, Cornwall Poppy Appeal inviting sponsors to get involved with the ‘Silent Soldier’ campaign, which was to see silhouettes appear across the county, but Cllr Gordon explained last week that the Royal British Legion has a new scheme, with seven available silhouettes.

The cost is £150 per figure for Legion members. The council had previously looked to purchase a maximum of three silhouettes — up to £750 — for the Silent Soldier campaign, and so councillors initially discussed purchasing five silhouettes from this latest initiative at their meeting last week.

Cllr Gordon said: “Every penny that’s spent on those silhouettes will go to the Poppy Appeal.

“The British Legion are really delighted the council is looking to purchase some of these silhouettes.”

Cllr Paul O’Brien expressed concern about how visible the silhouettes would be once installed, adding: “If around the war memorial, I suspect most people wouldn’t see them because they wouldn’t stand out.”

He also expressed fear they would be vandalised.

“I’m all for the idea. The difficulty is finding a place where they can be seen but equally be safe from drunken louts that may wish to deface them,” he added.

Cllr Jane Nancarrow said: “When we originally discussed this we were very enthusiastic as a council. I can understand what Cllr O’Brien is saying but if you take that attitude we would never put anything up anywhere. I think we really do need certainly one against the war memorial.

“As councillor for Launceston North, we discussed this up at St Stephens Residents’ [Association] and it would be nice to have one up the green maybe. Men went from Duke Street — mostly Tommies.”

Cllr Brian Hogan suggested they could be placed behind glass in the town’s empty shops. He said: “I think there are areas they could be safely put.”

Cllr Rob Tremain asked how permanent the structures would be and was told they would be in place for ‘a long time’.

Cllr Gordon said they are ‘quite visible’, adding: “The Royal British Legion would like to see them around the war memorial if possible. I think the war memorial is the centrepiece of Remembrance and that’s where they should go.”

When considering purchasing five of the silhouettes, Cllr John Conway suggested just to have those of the fighting forces, but mayor Cllr Margaret Young said: “I think women were as important during the war as men were although they didn’t fight.”

Cllr John Harris added: “I think we should have at least a munitions worker. A lot of women lost their lives in the munitions factories, maybe not immediately but because of the chemicals they were using.”

Cllr Young proposed extending the budget by £300 to have one of each silhouette.

Cllr O’Brien said: “We are in a position to afford it and we might received a subsidy from some of the residents’ associations.” It was unanimously agreed to purchase seven.

On locations for the silhouettes, Cllr Young suggested councillors write a list of suggestions with a small number of councillors looking at those locations and choosing the most suitable.

Cllr Gordon said: “I think four of these seven need to be placed around the war memorial.” Cllr Hogan added: “Put four fighting ones around the war memorial and if they need moving, so be it.”

Cllr Nancarrow said: “There’s one woman on the war memorial, she was a nurse, who came back at 25 in essence to die here in Launceston at home — Harriet Thompson,” and said she would like to see one of the female figures around the war memorial. The proposal for four figures to be placed around the war memorial, even if only temporarily, was carried.

Cllr Young concluded: “We will decide on the other three when they arrive. We will liaise with the residents’ associations and other parties to decide where the other silhouettes will go.”

- LIFTON will also be displaying silhouettes, after it was awarded ten silhouettes of soldiers funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

A post to St Mary’s, Lifton Facebook page gave thanks to some generous donations, a further five will be purchased so that there is one for each of the 15 men on the village war memorial.

It is planned to place the figures in public buildings around the village in the week leading up to Remembrance Sunday.

On Saturday, November 10, the soldiers will be brought together in the church and there will be an informal event for everyone to go and see the soldiers.

The silhouettes will then be seated amongst the congregation for the Remembrance Sunday service.