DESCENDENTS of two soldiers who died in the world wars have unveiled new plaques commemorating Chobham’s fallen servicemen.

The plaques are in front of the war memorial gates of the village recreation ground.

They depict the names of 62 men who died during the First World War and 32 killed during the Second World War.

A great nephew and two great nieces of Robert Giles unveiled the plaque that includes his name among the 1914-18 victims.

The daughter of a paratrooper who died during the Battle of Arnhem, Clifford Boiteux-Buchanan, revealed the 1939-45 names.

Robert Giles, a Scots Guards drummer, was the great uncle of Melvyn Rendell, Christine Mould and Angela Wilkinson. He died, aged 30, of typhus in a German prisoner of war camp on 5 March 1915.

Robert, who lived at Langshot Farm in Chobham, had joined up at the age of 14¾ and had survived combat in South Africa during the second Boer War. He is buried at Berlin South-Western Cemetery.

Sallie Boiteux-Buchanan was a baby when Lieutenant Boiteux-Buchanan died during the attempt to capture a bridge at Arnhem in the Netherlands. Her cousin Nigel Boiteux-Buchanan and his wife Rosaria were also at the unveiling.

“Bucky” had jumped during the Operation Market Garden airborne assault on 17 September 1944 and was killed four days later. He was married to Maisie, née Lee, and they lived in the cottage at Valley Wood Place in Chobham. He is buried at Oosterbeek war cemetery, near Arnhem.

The plaques were unveiled during a service organised by Chobham branch of the Royal British Legion.

“We wanted to raise the profile of the work of the legion and, of course, the local men who died for their country,” said branch secretary Peter Welford. “The position by the memorial gates is an ideal location.”