RESTORING a permanent tribute to our First World War heroes was a privilege for Malvern signwriter Will Jones.

The 56-year-old spent nearly two weeks repainting the intricate engravings of soldiers’ names on the striking memorial that stands in Worcester’s Gheluvelt Park.

And while this would be a moving commission for many artists, it was particularly poignant for Mr Jones, given his own connection to the conflict.

His grandfather, Percy Fletcher, was nothing short of a hero.

Born in Bosbury, Herefordshire, Mr Fletcher was just 16 when he signed up to join the Army, lying about his age in his eagerness to fight for king and country.

Mr Jones said: “He was quite a character. He boxed – he was always fighting somebody.”

Percy left behind farm life in search of “a bit of adventure”

and he did just that.

The private was among those who laid down their weapons on the muddy battlefields for one of the legendary 1914 Christmas Day truces, swapping the trenches for football tackles and exchanging cigarettes with the enemy soldiers as if they were old friends.

Mr Jones said: “It’s sad to think they didn’t carry it on the rest of the time. I can’t imagine what it must have been like out there for them.”

The metal memorial in Gheluvelt Park stands as a permanent reminder of the bravery of men such as Mr Fletcher, commemorating soldiers from the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment who fell at the Battle of Gheluvelt near Ypres, Belgium, on October 31, 1914.

A major event will take place at the memorial on October 31, 2014, as part of a programme of events to mark the centenary of the First World War.

Mr Jones added: “It’s a long time ago now but it doesn’t seem that long ago. Grandad died when I was 15 so I didn’t get much time to ask him about the First World War.

We’ve recently found out he carried injured people to safety on his shoulders while bullets were whizzing around his head.”