National Memorial Arboretum & Armed Forces Memorial.

I paid a visit to the Armed Forces Memorial a couple of weeks ago with my Brother, in order to look for the name of a colleague of his that was killed in 1972 whilst serving in Northern Ireland.

He found the name and was extremely moved by the experience.

A very impressive and worthy memorial.

 

Went again on Friday, with the Chairman of my GPRA Branch. He was in Korea and spent quite some time in the Armed Forces Memorial looking for names of colleagues - very poignant and moving. The Arboretum is expanding all the time and, on the subject of Korea, the current memorial is to be extended. The grass has been marked out. One to watch the progress of.

Steve W.

Steve W.

 

Short notice I know but god willing and the river not rising (If Andrea says yes) we are going to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire so if anyone wants any specific shots post away and I'll pick them up in the morning.

Regards
Andy

 

Well my first tip is don't take a dog with you ! (Going to have to go again next week to see the chaps that never came home with me and a school lad killed in the Falklands!)

2nd Tip: Don't go on a sunny day....For some reason a lot of the memorials have their back to the sun so you end up taking a picture of the sun unless you wait for a passing cloud.

3rd Tip: Take a cloth to clean the memorials.....I was rather disgusted that many were covered in dust and bird shit that has obviously been on them for quite some time !

4th Tip: Don't bother with the shop....It has next to nothing in the way of military memorabilia but if you like tea towels with 50 types of rare weeds you're onto a winner !

All said and done. I was rather impressed but I couldn't help thinking as I walked around the perimeter (Because of my dog) they could have done so much more with the place.

One a plus note I took nearly two hundred pictures and I'll get some on later (I was drawn to tears by one in particular that is shamefully tucked away in some trees that should be in my opinion be one of the main attractions to remind people how crap war really is).

Cheers
Andy

 

Listed as Mediterranean Campaigns of the Second World War No. 313.

A collection of memorials from this era including 1st Army and 8th Army, Rats of Tobruk, Malta and The George Cross Island Association (GCIA).

There is also two Palestine Memorials one to The Palestine Police Old Comrades' Association and The Palestine Veterans Association (PVA)

The trees in this area are from Native Africa and other areas of the region.


British 1st Army
'The Great Little Army'




Malta Memorial


The Rats of Tobruk Memorial
'No Surrender'


British 8th Army Memorial
'I Marched and Fought with the Desert Army'


Palestine Memorial
'When Comrades Fall, We've Shown Them All, We Shall Never Forget'




There were some 90,000 members of the British Armed Forces sent to Palestine after WW2 and 784 never came home along with some 400 Palestine Police killed on active service.

Second to Korea this was the largest loss of life in any conflict after WW2.

'For Those At Home The War Is Over, For Us It Has Just Begun'



Note: I will add the other memorials from this section as and when I get them.

 

See the post above Owen (Med Memorials) The trees are from Africa etc. I'm not a big horticultural fan.....I prefer a rather nicely kept piece of grass if I'm honest.

There is around 50,000 trees planted on the site and it is obviously growing as more and more people dedicate trees to loved ones.

To give you a good example there is a area called the 'Beat' dedicated to Fallen Police Officers and the trees are Chestnuts because the first truncheons were made from Chestnut trees.

There are trees from all over the world including Canada, Australia, Himalayas, Southern Asia and another little ditting:

There are 2,536 Oak trees planted in the Merchant Navy section - One for each British flagged Merchant Ship lost in WW2.

 

A wonderful thread to read with great photographs which provides a good description of the area and monuments.

My thanks to all contributors.

Regards
Tom

 

Listed as Ambulances Services No.107

Ironically the first memorial I cam across was for the Ambulance Service and the shots are below.

This memorial was created by the Ambulance Services Benevolent Fund as a lasting tribute to all Ambulance Service personnel who have died but especially to all those killed on duty in service of others.

 

Listed as Twin Towers Memorial No.103

This memorial is to those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11th 2001. (Sad there is no mention of the flight that crashed on the way to Washington and those who were killed (Including British Military personnel) in the Pentagon.

You can see that there is debris from 'Ground Zero' contained in the memorial which was donated by the British Fire and Rescue Services after they received it from their counterparts in the United States.

At the time of the memorial being displayed two Redwoods were planted to represent the twin towers. A English Oak, a Scottish Pine, a Welsh Yew, an Irish Strawberry Tree and an American Black Oak was also planted.

 

Listed as Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association No.102

One of the military charities (Army Benevolent Fund being the other) that I have helped raise money for in the past on several occasions when I was in green kit (Making and selling cups of tea).

Each year this charity directly assists over 50,000 people linked with the British military either by currently serving, ex-service members or their families.

One of SSAFA'S latest projects is Norton Homes which was set up to provide family members with accomodation near the military's two main treatment centres in Birmingham and Surrey where badly injured Servicemen and women receive care. This project allows loved ones to be close when they are most needed.

 

Listed as Women's Section, Royal British Legion No.104.

This memorial is dedicated to the members and friends of the Royal British Legion Women's Section. These ladies ahve been providing care and support to the ex-service community for over 85 years.