A PLAQUE to honour the fallen soldiers from the First World War has been unveiled in Pontypool.

Pontypool Community Council and Torfaen Council provided the plaque, which was unveiled outside the Civic Centre building on Monday morning.

The plaque was unveiled by councillor Gaynor James and councillor Alan Jones.

The ceremony was officiated by Reverend Rufus Nov, who also read a passage from the Laurence Binyon poem 'From the fallen'.

Joining Reverend Nov were Torfaen MP Nick Thomas-Symonds, Torfaen council leader Anthony Hunt, Pontypool councillor Gaynor James and Blaenavon councillor and Torfaen County Borough Council cabinet member for Business Leisure Tourism Alan Jones.

It is thought that more than a thousand men and women from Torfaen gave their lives of the course of the war.

Councillor Alan Jones, Torfaen's Armed Forces Champion, said: "We can never repay the debt we owe to the many men and women who lost their lives during the Great War but this plaque will ensure that they are not forgotten and that their memory lives on with us.

"I would like to thank Cllr Gaynor James and Pontypool Community Council, Reverend Rufus Noy for officiating this unveiling, the bugler and all the representatives from our armed forces organisations who attended."

Cllr Gaynor James said: “It was a brilliant ceremony.

“It’s a really important year because it is 100 years since the end of the First World War.

“The plaque is there to honour those who lost their lives in the First World War.

"It is leaving a legacy for those who gave their lives, and it is there to show that we will remember them.

“It was great teamwork to get it organised between Torfaen Council and Pontypool Community Council.”

On social media on Monday, Torfaen MP Nick Thomas-Symonds said: "‪This morning I joined Cllr Anthony Hunt, Cllr Alan Jones & Cllr Gaynor James for the unveiling of the 2018 Centenary Plaque in Pontypool in memory of those who gave their lives in the First World War. We will never forget their incredible sacrifice."

Last month, Pontypool Park Friends dedicated a red horse chestnut tree to those men and women from Pontypool who had not returned after fighting for their country in the First World War.

The Friends had purchased and planted the tree in February,