A TOWN’S MP has urged schools to take pupils to visit local war graves to help them understand the magnitude of the sacrifices of previous generations.

Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, has identified five war graves in this constituency and echoed an appeal by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) for children to visit the graves.

The Labour MP will personally visit the graves of the 75 First World War soldiers in his constituency.

Mr Cunningham said: “The centenary of the outbreak of the First World War is a time not just for reflection and commemoration, but also an opportunity to educate a new generation of young people about the extraordinary events of a hundred years ago and to bring to life some of the personal stories from this remarkable time.”

The locations of the war graves in north Stockton are at St Cuthbert’s in Billingham, where one First World War soldier is buried, St John’s in Haverton Hill, Stockton, where five are buried, St Mary’s in Norton, which has 13 graves, Stockton’s Durham Road cemetery which as 54 graves and St Peter’s in Wolviston, which has two graves. Soldiers from the Second World War are also buried in each of the locations.