A Cumbrian charity has expressed disappointment in the failure to recognise tens of thousands of Commonwealth troops who died fighting for the British Empire in the First World War.

A recent report, produced by a Special Committee formed to review historical cases of non-commemoration, found that 116,000, and potentially 350,000, of those who died while serving the then British Empire during the First World War remain unmemorialised.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) issued an apology after the findings were released.

Chief Officer of Multicultural Cumbria, Saj Ghafoor, said: "87, 000 Indians 45,000 Africans died in the world wars.

"They sacrificed their lives for the British Empire.

"It has taken a hundred years for that to be acknowledged with an apology.

"They were not even given the dignity of a name to acknowledge them or the sacrifice they made.

"The war memorials should have the countries of soldiers that died for Britain as a way to recognise and pay respect to them."

The CWGC set up the Special Committee in December 2019 after a Channel 4

documentary, 'Unremembered: Britain’s Forgotten War Heroes', was aired the previous month.

Director General of the CWGC, Claire Horton, CBE, said: "The Committee has produced an excellent report, which pulls no punches.

"Our response today is simple: the events of a Century ago were wrong then and are wrong now.

"We are sorry for what happened and will act to right the wrongs of the past.

"We welcome the Committee’s findings and embrace fully its detailed recommendations."

Among the recommendations made to the CWGC in the report were: an ongoing commitment to continue the search for the unnamed dead and those potentially not commemorated, a commitment yo transparency online, community engagement and education, and new memorials or commemorative structures.

Ms Horton added: “Many of the recommendations can be acted on at once, others will require further work and investigation."

"We are already prioritising several areas simultaneously for immediate action, building on activities already put in train over recent years to tell the stories of those who died.

As we do, we will continue in our mission to live up to a promise made more than a century ago and inscribed in stone at CWGC sites around the globe: “THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE".

The CWGC commemorates the 1.7 million Commonwealth servicemen and women who died during the two World Wars.