A ONE-of-a-kind community project commemorating war dead from Thame is now gathering momentum.

Thame Remembers was launched on August 3, 2014, marking the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War The scheme aims to place crosses on the graves of more than 190 men from the town by 2018, wherever they are.

So far 53 of the special two-bar crosses, designed to weather the elements, have been delivered to sites across the globe by about 40 volunteers.

Co-organiser Mike Dyer said: “It’s been going absolutely superbly.”

Some of those involved have visited their relatives’ graves as part of the project, but many more simply wished to help.

Mr Dyer added: “It’s amazing how word has got round and how people have responded.

Mr Dyer added: “We knew it was ambitious when we started, and we knew that in 99 per cent of communities in the UK it would not have worked, but there’s such a community spirit in Thame.”

The crosses honour all those who have died in conflicts over the last 120 years.

Many have been placed in Britain, France and Belgium, but also in far-flung corners of the world such as India, Korea, Malta and even Tanzania.

It is hoped that a cross can soon be placed in Basra, Iraq.

The project was the idea of local councillor David Bretherton, himself a former RAF engineer.

He said: “We wanted to find out more than just the names on the memorial.

“I thought to visit each grave would be poignant; they probably haven’t been visited since the 1920s.”

One of the more exciting exploits set for this summer is a series of cross deliveries at sea in memory of about 11 navy personnelpeople serving in the navy.

Most will be dropped into the sea at the men’s approximate location using a GPS tracker.

One at the HMS Formidable, the first battleship to go down in the First World War off the coast of Lyme Regis Bay, will have the cross delivered by a retired diver from Thame, Cliff Newsom.

The project began based on names on the town’s war memorial, but has since expanded after more names came to the group’s attention.

Research for each person involved is conducted through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and a detailed report produced on each one, including biographical details of the person involved.

The group is planning to visit battlefields in the Somme this October to plant crosses there.

They have also given presentations to six year groups at Lord Williams’s School, whose head boy and head girl placed a single cross in Watlington.

It is hoped that a special celebration and book will be organised at the end of the Thame Remembers project, to coincide with the centenary of Armistice Day.

Visit thameremembers.org