THE servicemen and women from Ross-on-Wye were thanked for their efforts during the Second World War with a special proclamation by the Urban District Council of Ross.

The citation, ‘To the men and women of Ross-on-Wye who served in the service in the World War from 1939 to 1945 from the people in Ross-on-Wye’.

It reads: “The victory over our enemies in 1945 is without a doubt the most momentous event in the World’s history. Defear for us would have meant the loss of everything that makes life worth living.

“It would have meant that out great country, to whom the World owes so much for all that is best in it, would have nothing to look forward to for hundreds of years.”

It continues: “That we have been spared this we owe to the courage and self-sacrificing devotion to duty of millions of men and women from every part of the World.

“And we feel very proud that included among the many to whom we owe so much, are not a few men and women from Ross-on-Wye. We ask you to believe that in thanking you for what you have done for us, we are not employing the ritual of mere politeness, but giving expression in a gratitude that will fill oiur hearts as ling as we live.

“It is with you that we welcome you back among us, it it is a joy mingled with sorrow for alas, some will never return;  they have made the supreme sacrifice for our deliverance. May they rest in peace.”

The document is finished with a red seal in the bottom right corner featuring an embossing by the Urban District Council of Ross, an organisation which was dissolved in April 1974 following the reorganisation of local government.