Special salute to the county's First World War fallen

But archivist Jennifer Harrison not only set out to ensure every name on every First World War memorial in the county was remembered - she wanted to know who they were.

Her work putting "flesh and bones on the names on the stones" is now available on-line as a database - published by Herefordshire Council. It lists all those on war memorials and Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) war graves across the county.

And those names are reproduced in full, in our special 16-page supplement marking the centenary of the outbreak of the war this week.

This was a mammoth task - and fuelling her efforts, there are some deep personal connections to the conflict .

Her uncle, Charles Edward Conrad was killed during the final 100 days of the war, while her husband Rodney's grandfather, Fred Swaine-Harrison, died at Ypres, in January 1918.

So when she sees a list of names - it's not just words. It's real people.

"I can't ever look at a cemetery or memorial without thinking that. It never fails to amaze me," she said.

A retired teacher, Mrs Harrison has journeyed many times to the fields of Flanders, visiting the war memorials and cemeteries with her husband, a retired vicar, former soldier and current Royal British Legion chaplain in Ledbury.

The pair, both 68, who now live in Ledbury, share a common interest in the First World War.

The germ of the idea took hold while Mr Harrison carried out Remembrance Day services throughout the three Wiltshire parishes he served.

"When Rodney was taking a memorial service every year we'd say: 'We will remember them' - I wanted to to find out who they were."

Mrs Harrison carried out a similar exercise in Wiltshire on a much smaller scale, then she decided to research the names on the Ledbury memorials after the couple settled there in 2011.

“I looked at the two war memorials and wanted to find out who the men were; to ‘put flesh and bones on the names on the stones’ and so the research began. I completed Ledbury and the surrounding villages of Much Marcle, Colwall, Wellington Heath, Pixley and Putley and then requests started coming in from surrounding Royal British Legion branches and, having started, I thought it was important to do the whole county," she said.

It was a four-month job, which involved documenting the names, following the trail through records - Herefordshire Archives the Historic Environment Record, the internet and of course, the Hereford Times archives.

It was made trickier by the fact that same names cropped up on several different memorials.

The completed database makes it possible to search for the names of those in CWGC graves or listed on war memorials in a particular parish to find an individual, his rank, regiment and details of next of kin.

Her research so far has covered 326 memorials in communities and work places across Herefordshire and has produced the names of 2,546 men and two women on war memorials alone.

The research also shows there are 236 Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves in 101 cemeteries in the county.

Her aim has always been to make sure that every name on every Herefordshire First World War memorial was remembered.

The database provides the full name, number, rank, regiment, battalion or ship, age, date of death, details of where they were commemorated or buried and a short sentence about their next of kin for each individual. There is also a link to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site for each name.

• You can find the lists in this section.

The database is available online at: https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/local-history-and-heritage/ww1-war-graves-and-memorials-search/war-graves-and-memorials-search

To add information to the database, please e-mail archives@herefordshire.gov.uk.