Pensioner slams council as war memorial becomes 'mess'

The war memorial, at the junction of Oakley Road and Tebourba Way in Millbrook, has been left in a "mess", according to resident Ceren Davis.

It remembers the soldiers of the Royal Hampshire Regiment who fought in the Battle of Tebourba in 1942.

Ceren, 79, said that her family has many ties to the war and was shocked that the council had let brambles, weeds and shrubs grow over part of the memorial.

Brambles and weeds have grown over the memorial (Image: NQ) A former Southampton City Councillor, Ceren said she first noticed the issue when she was a councillor between 2006 and 2010.

She said: “I mentioned it then and nothing was done – now we are 14 years on, and the council have let the memorial get in a state.

“Its only in the last few months it’s been covered by brambles and now its a mess – its just so sad.

“My husband, myself, my daughter and my son all have ties to the forces – not for the Hampshire Regiment but as infantry and royal engineers.

“The war has great ties to my family, and I don’t think the council should let memorials like this fall by the wayside.”

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A watermelon in the bushes by the war memorial (Image: NQ)

One of the stranger items at the memorial site was a small watermelon that may have been dropped by a shopper from the nearby Tesco superstore. 

Ceren said she felt this was even more proof the memorial had been forgotten. 

Tebourba, a town in Tunisia, was the scene of a bloody battle for four gruelling days from November 29 until December 4, 1942.

The Hampshire Regiment held the town for several days until it fell to German forces.

Ceren said the council should be maintaining war memorials in the city (Image: NQ) The former councillor continued: “If the council let this memorial be overgrown and forgotten the next generation start to forget the sacrifices that were made more than 80 years ago.

“The council should have a system where someone checks our memorial sites every few months to make sure they have not fallen into disrepair.

“As the war fades from living memory, its important we remember.”

In response to the complaints made by Ceren, a spokesperson from Southampton City Council said: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we'll get a team out to check the site and assess what needs to be done."