The Armed Forces Memorial
Please click on a picture to see a larger version

Back to "Other Parts of the Arboretum"

The Armed Forces Memorial was opened by HM The Queen on 12th October 2007 and has already attracted thousands of visitors to the Arboretum, some 6,000 on Remembrance Day alone.

A model of the new Armed Forces Memorial.	The North Wall Sculpture.	The South Wall Sculpture.

The Memorial was designed by Liam O'Connor and is built of Portland Stone, the same material that the slab upon which the BB bench is situated, and has engraved on it the names of Armed Forces personnel who have lost their lives on duty or by terrorist action since the end of the Second World War. There were 15,530 names initially, which go up to the end of 2006 and take up little more than half of the available space. A most poignant aspect of the memorial is this blank space which will, no doubt, be filled with names from 2007 and future years.

Detail of North Wall Sculpture.	Detail of South Wall Sculpture.	Another Detail of South Wall Sculpture.

The slabs of stone were shipped to Northern Ireland to be engraved by a computer-driven process before coming to Alrewas. The sculptures by Ian Rank-Broadley (who designed the portrait of the Queen used on coins since 1998) acknowledge for the first time in such a memorial not just the sacrifice of soldiers, sailors, airmen and support services, but the fortitude of bereaved family and friends. The north wall sculpture depicts a groups of servicemen carrying a wounded comrade while grieving family look on from either side. The south wall sculpture depicts the soul of the dead serviceman preparing to depart through a symbolic door as another figure chisels the name on the memorial.

The central wreath.	The Open Door across the central Wreath.	The Open Door with the outer slit visible.

A circular wall surrounds the centre which is formed of two straight walls. In the southernmost straight wall is a carving of a door just slightly open. In the southernmost curved wall is another slit which is aligned so that at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the rays of the sun will pass through both gaps and highlight the cast wreath sculpture in the centre of the memorial. In 2007, the first Remembrance Day Service was held there. Fortunately clouds did not hide the sun which did just what had been predicted!

The slits from the outside looking in.

The inscription within the slit.

The Obelisk.

Click for - National Memorial Arboretum Website or for - Friends of the NMA Website

Please visit us again!