MANY of the young men sent to fight in the Korean War were on National Service, some still in their teens and barely out of school.

Now the names of Bradford men who lost their lives in the conflict - known as the ‘forgotten war’ - are to be added to the city’s war memorial, and some of their families have been traced through the Telegraph & Argus. The families will be invited to a ceremony next month paying tribute to the servicemen.

Malcolm Atkinson is working with the Korean Veterans Association on commemorating Corporal David F Kenehan and Fusiliers Lawrence Walker and James Cannon - and thanks to appeals in the T&A he has so far heard from the Kenehan and Cannon families.

Malcolm first saw the names of Fusiliers Lawrence Walker and JW Cannon in a 2015 T&A appeal for information about local men in the Korean War. He later got in touch with a man who was trying to get the name of his cousin, Cpl Kenehan, onto Bradford’s memorial. Cpl Kenehan died in Korea in 1953, aged 19.

“It got my attention because my wife and I had managed to get her brother’s name on Bradford’s memorial. He died in Egypt on National Service in the 1950s,” says Malcolm. “The wall, near the Cenotaph, bears the names of those killed in action after 1949. For their names to be included they must have been born in Bradford.”

Malcolm contacted Joanne Dodds, Bradford Council’s Armed Forces Champion, and they discovered that David Kenehan was born in Thornbury and went to St Mary’s School. His name was added to the Bradford memorial earlier this year.

The names of Walker and Cannon are being added to the memorial this month. “Fus Cannon was killed on January 3, 1951 and Fus Walker on April 25, 1951. Like Cpl Kenehan, they were on National Service,” says Malcolm. “Kenehan was in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment and Walker and Cannon were in the Northumberland Fusiliers, but they were all in the same area of Korea when they died. Kenehan was awarded the Elizabeth Cross, which we hope a member of his family will wear at the service.”

Since his more recent appeal in the T&A, Malcolm has heard from the Cannon family but is still trying to trace members of the Walker family: “The ones from the Kenehan family are David’s brother Vincent, his nephew Danny, his cousin James Menzies and his friend Steve Hall, who started the search in the first place,” says Malcolm.

The Korean War lasted from 1950 until a ceasefire in 1953. “It was the forgotten war,” says Malcolm. “These men deserve to be commemorated along with others who died in action.”

The service and wreath-laying ceremony is on Sunday, October 24, at 2pm. Afterwards Lord Mayor of Bradford Cllr Shabir Hussain, will host a reception in City Hall. Other guests will include representatives of the Korean Veterans Association and the Duke of Wellington regiment.

l If you have information about Fusiliers Lawrence Walker and James Cannon contact Malcolm on 0777 3102355 or (01274) 501976.

Emma Clayton