County Service of Remembrance
&
Commitment To World Peace
Memorial
The County War Memorial was built by means of public subscription and
completed in 1923. It is 14 meters high and stands at 320 meters above sea level. It is built of white Portland Stone and was originally dedicated to those men from Montgomeryshire who fell in the 1st World War.
Sited on the top of Town Hill it is visible for many miles in all directions. In 1990 it was seriously damaged by an earth tremor.
For the next 12 years the repair and refurbishment of the County War Memorial became the sole focus of attention for one man - Terry Boundy who noted: -
"The object must be to repair The County War Memorial and to hold in trust with Montgomery Town Council funds sufficient for this work to be carried out and leave a sufficient amount for the future care and upkeep of the Memorial."
In addition, he required that proper direction signs were erected; an entry be made in the local Guide Book co¬ordinated with the details of Montgomery 
Castle so that each would enhance the other as an attraction for visitors.
Additionally to ensure that the path for walkers remains open with arrangements for access for the disabled.
This, simplistically put, was the task that Terry set for himself.
The projected cost was to be just short of £143,000.00. No one escaped from Terry in his quest for funds. Talks were given to sundry organizations; slide shows shown to schools; coffee mornings; donations requested,
cajoled and even sometimes bullied from anyone who Terry thought could donate. Ultimately more than 25% of the required total was raised by these means and then the icing on the cake came in September 2001 - an award from the Heritage Lottery Grant of £107,000.00.
This equated to 75% of the total required.
How easy it is to roll out these figures now. What they do not tell is of more than a decade of one man"s tireless campaign to achieve his goal. Much of it he did alone and only those closest to him could appreciate the amount of time, energy and dedication that he put in.
The culmination of all this effort and with it Terry"s finest hour, came on Saturday 5th October 2002 when on The Town Hill the newly re-furbished County War Memorial was re-dedicated by the late Rev. Dick Jones BEM, at that time County President and Chaplain to Montgomery County Royal British Legion. Fittingly, Terry was the man to unveil the new inscription and I was privileged to say the Exhortation. Terry then recited the Kohima Epitaph which meant so much to him.
"When you go home tell them of us, and say; for your tomorrow we gave our today"
The citation on the Memorial had been changed from the original to now read:-
"To All Those People Of The County Of Montgomery Who Died For Their Country In All Wars".
Those of us who were there on that day were transported by all manner of forms of transport. Mainly Land Rovers with trailers and hay carts pulled by tractors. The proceedings were not helped by the presence of a bitterly cold and strong wind and it is to the eternal credit of Newtown Silver Band that despite having half of their music blown away they managed to provide the music for the Service.
The proper arrangements for the future maintenance of the Memorial are in place and there are funds to be used as and when required. In a most generous gesture Terry"s son Chris has offered to keep a watchful eye on the Memorial and its surrounds and will arrange for a professional annual inspection.
Major Terry Boundy. MBE. BVSc. MRCVS. FR Ag S. 1920 ~ 2008.
Joined Montgomery Branch RBL in 1950. Held posts of President; Secretary and Treasurer for a number of years. Oversaw the redevelopment of The Memorial Garden on The Pound in 1998. Every Friday at the weekly Communion Service in the Church he, with Arthur Tanner, has turned a page of the County Book of Remembrance and recited the names on the relevant page.
Information kindly provided by J. Bryan Foulkes