Row over lack of bilingual silent soldiers

A row has erupted over the lack of bilingual signs on silent soldiers used to commemorate the war dead.
Llanbedr county councillor, Huw Williams, was stung by criticism of the soldier motifs that he had helped to put up around the Vale of Clwyd village.
Members of the village’s community council argued that the lest we forget message on the signs should be in both Welsh and English.
Tim Baker, vice chair of Llanbedr Community Council, said: “The community council fully supports remembrance in all its forms however we were  not informed of and not asked to contribute to this 2019 Llanbedr project.
“The community council is also passionate about legacy, history and language. “The issue here is the fact that the famous sentiment ‘Lest we forget’ appears only in English, as opposed to the bi-lingual ‘Lest we forget / Rhag i ni anghofio’ to be seen on similar signs all over Wales.
“Cllr Williams is to be congratulated for his efforts in bringing people together to fund this project, and we warmly invite him to the next community council meeting on December 2 when the question of new bilingual signs will be discussed and I feel confident will get a positive response.”
But Cllr Williams said any criticism was unfair as there was a message in Welsh on the signs and they had been paid for through a collection made by residents of the village.
He said: “It really was very heartening to see people in the village come together and put up this tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. But what gets me down is the fact there was this criticism from our community council, the same council that has raised our council tax through its precept massively.”

By Shane Brennan – Local Democracy Reporter