VETERANS campaigning to create a memorial to the men to who served in the Durham Light Infantry in their home county have are delighted with the response to their appeal.
In the four weeks since the The Northern Echo threw its weight behind the appeal, readers have donated nearly now reached nearly £3,000.
The DLI memorial , planned for a site yet to be determined in Durham City, will symbolise the moment when DLI buglers sounded the ceasefire in Korea in 1953, and will be a replica of a statue unveiled in the NationalMemorial Arboretum in Staffordshire last July.
Appeal co-ordinator Colonel Arthur Charlton said yesterday: "All the contributions that have come so far have been a result of The Northern Echo’s publicity.
“We have had 68 donations so far, which is a brilliant response. A number of people who contributed toward the original memorial have donated money again – to them a double thank you.”
Col Charlton said, letters of acknowledgement and thanks are being sent to all donors.
He added: “I would like to say a big thank you to people who have donated anonymously or without a return address.”
An appeal for the original memorial was launched after two ex-DLI soldiers - signaller Keith Straughier and bugler Richard Softley - visited the arboretum and were dismayed to find the DLI was not represented. More than £90,000 was raised, much of it coming from Northern Echo readers.
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