Visitor numbers to the The National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, have risen sharply since the opening of the new Armed Forces Memorial last autumn. They are now looking to recruit more volunteers to help run the site.
Corporal John Rigby, a young British soldier who was killed in June this year after being injured in a roadside bomb in Iraq, has had his name added his home town’s war memorial.
Cpl. Rigby died on his 24th birthday with his twin brother Will, a corporal in the same battalion, by his side.
The memorial cross in Rye, East Sussex, already bears the names of 190 local people who gave their lives for their country in the First and Second World Wars and one name from the Gulf War, Fusilier Stephen Satchell who was killed in February 1991 at the age of 18.
Fus. Satchell is already commemorated on the new Armed Forces memorial in Stafforshire and Cpl. Rigby’s name will be added in time.
The Armed Forces Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, unveiled on Friday 12 October 2007, is now on the UKNIWM database.
The new Armed Forces memorial was opened today by Her Majesty The Queen.
This is a very significant event as this is the first national memorial to commemorate all those who have died in service since 1 January 1948. As well as remembering those killed in conflict, it also lists the many servicemen and women who have died while on duty or been killed by terrorist action. This means that many of those whose names are carved onto this memorial will not be listed on any other UK war memorial.
Just this morning I answered an enquiry from a gentleman who wanted to know whether his brother (a submariner who died in a training accident in the 1950s) would be on the memorial. I was able to use the online Roll of Honour to confirm that he is indeed listed.
The memorial is also very large and visually striking and will undoubtedly play a major role in remembrance acitvities for many years to come.
The Armed Forces Memorial, is a new memorial currently being constructed at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire. It is due to be complete by Autumn 2007 and will be the only memorial that lists the names of all 16,000 servicemen and women killed on duty or by terrorist action since the end of the Second World War.
On the Armed Forces Memorial website you can view some photos of the construction of the memorial and sculptures.
War Memorials Archive Blog 