A STATUE commemorating the Worcestershire men who died in the Boer War is being restored by specialist craftsmen.

The bronze statue of a soldier with an angel standing above him is in the grounds of Worcester Cathedral and is acknowledged as a particularly fine work by the sculptor W R Colton.

The Grade II listed monument has suffered extensive damaged over the years, due to the gradual breakdown of the wax coating used to protect the bronze.

The restoration is being carried out by St Blaise Ltd of Dorset. The company intends to mend corroded areas of the bronze and reduce the copper staining which has penetrated the limestone plinth before applying a new wax coating.

The £10,000 project is being paid for by Worcester City Council and is expected to take four weeks.

Around 3,500 men from the Worcestershire Regiment took part in the South African campaign between 1899 and 1902, including many from the Malvern area.

Among them was Trooper Gatfield, whose return from the war in September 1900 was extensively covered in the Malvern Gazette at the time and recalled in Malvern Memories last year.

Trooper Gatfield was stationed at Cape Town when war broke out and fought in several engagements with Boer troops before being caught in the Siege of Ladysmith. He caught a fever and dysentery after the siege was lifted and was shipped home.

By the end of the war, 208 of the regiment's men had been killed, 92 wounded, 23 were missing and 42 taken prisoner. In all, 295,000 British soldiers were involved in the conflict.