The addition of the names of over 130 Irish people onto a roll of honour for those who died during World War II has been described as "the ultimate recognition" of their sacrifice.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has approved the inclusion of 134 Irish men, who lost their lives as a result of "enemy actions" on a list of those who died in service, or as a result of conflict, during the first and second world wars.
The commission is charged with recording and archiving the names of all such casualties who were living in the British Commonwealth during the periods in question.
While Ireland maintained a neutral position in WWII, the country had dominion status in the commonwealth at the time.
Terry Denham, a British local historian, who researches and gathers details about war casualties, led the effort to have the names officially listed.
He has spent over 25 years working to find names that should be recognised, through his 'In from the Cold' group.
The 134 mariners in question are eligible for inclusion on the CWGC Roll of Honour as they "came into contact with the enemy" and lost their lives as a result of German attacks.
Mr Denham explained how the royal charter that established the Commonwealth War Graves Commission stipulated that all such casualties must be recorded, if they died in such circumstances.
These names must be commemorated either on gravestones, or on memorials to those whose remains were never recovered, as well as being held on a central, searchable, database.
The charter also states that such memorials must be maintained and kept in a "fitting manner", in perpetuity.
Mr Denham discovered that there were no Irish Merchant Navy members listed around ten years ago.
The names of those now accepted for commemoration by the commission are listed on the Irish Merchant Seamen’s Memorial in Dublin. This was the starting point for the effort to have them included in the Commission’s records.
Mr Denham said he was "quite chuffed" to have secured the approval of the CWGC for the seamen in question. They were formally listed in recent days.
He is hopeful that the records in relation to around a dozen or so other Irish citizens will be added to the list in the near future, among them two sailors whose bodies were washed ashore and for whom graves have been located.
The commission is charged with recording the names of anyone from the Commonwealth who died during both world wars, or as a result of injuries they sustained, up to a cut-off date, after the conclusion of both conflicts.
Mr Denham said in most cases those who died had been aboard vessels that were struck by German torpedoes or German aircraft fire. Others were on boats that had stuck mines.
He said their inclusion was the "ultimate recognition of their sacrifice and meant they would never be forgotten".
"Most of these people were doing their job, they weren’t there by choice, and simply found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time", he added.
The majority of those listed were members of the Irish Merchant Navy but the roll of honour also includes fishermen who were on board the Steam Trawler Leukos, which was sunk in 1940.
