After 18 months of research by volunteers at Barnet Museum a new book was launched looking into the history of the area.

The Chipping Barnet War Memorial World War Two: The Men and Women on the memorial – Who they were, where and when they fell – set in a timeline of world, national and local events, records the history of the 149 local people commemorated on the nearby memorial.

The book not only contains a timeline of events in World War Two but explores the lives and untimely deaths of people in Barnet.

One such local was Alan Granville Towler, a Corporal in The Parachute Regiment, Army Air Corps and resident of Cedar Lawn Avenue, who died 74 years ago during the Allied landings in North Africa.

Jerry Burtt and his wife Alison, relatives of Towler, attended the launch in February along with, amongst others, Martin Russell, The Queen’s Representative and Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Barnet, who penned the book’s foreword.

Alan’s father, Alfred Towler, was for many years a hard working member of Barnet Football Club during which they won the Athenian League twice in 1930-31 and 1931-32.

The book is a follow on from the museum’s similar research into the 275 memorial names from World War One published in 2015, The Chipping Barnet War Memorial: The men on the memorial – Who they were, where and when they fell in World War One”.

Published with support from the Hyde Foundation, a local educational charity, the Museum hopes that the book will become a teaching resource perhaps as part of the Museum’s programme of visits to - and class visits from - local schools.

Details at barnetmuseum.co.uk