SENIOR members of the royal family gathered at the National Memorial Arboretum, in Alrewas, last week for the official unveiling of a new memorial honouring the thousands of British servicemen and women who have lost their lives on duty since the Second World War.
The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall attended the dedication of the Armed Forces Memorial last Friday (October 12), which, for the first time, recognises the 16,000 men and women who have given their lives for their country over the past 60 years.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, together with top military personnel and politicians, including Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant, also turned out, along with 3,000 veterans and families and friends whose loved ones are remembered on the memorial.
From conflicts in Northern Ireland to the Falklands, Afghanistan to Iraq, all those, regular and reserve, killed on duty, including members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the Merchant Navy, on training exercises, as a result of terrorist action or on peacekeeping missions are recognised — recognition some families have waited 60 years for.
As the royal party made their entrance along a route lined by standard bearers, they were greeted with a rousing rendition of the National Anthem, performed by the Band of The Royal Air Force.
The chairman of the Armed Forces Memorial Trustees, Vice Admiral Sir John Dunt then addressed the crowd, paying tribute to the architect, sculptor, construction company and stonemason 'for their highly-skilled work', "the result of all their endeavours you see before you today," he said.
He told the 3,000-strong crowd how a 'further £1 million needs to be raised to ensure it [the memorial] is kept in its present condition, and the engraving, sadly, of more names in the future'.
Vice Admiral Dunt then paid tribute to those in the Armed Forces 'who have paid the ultimate sacrifice'; those who are prepared to give their lives and whose sacrifice 'all too often goes without recognition'.
With 'every single name appreciated, he said that the memorial would provide 'long over-due recognition'.
As the sun broke through the overcast skies for the first strains of Eternal Father, Strong to Save, The Duke of Edinburgh then took to the podium for a reading, followed by prayers led by The Archbishop of Canterbury, before speaking to his audience about the 'need to make the invisible visible'.
"Too easily we screen out what makes us uncomfortable," he said.
"We depend on the invisible work by others; those who choose to put their own lives at risk for us.
"We need visible memorials to help us recognise our debt to them.
"We need to make the invisible visible and that's what today is about; those who risk everything for the good of our national community and the good of our world.
"Some of them have died in heroic circumstances, some in tragedy and conflict, some in routine duties - but all of them as parts of a single, great and generous enterprise."
Following the prayer of dedication and the singing of Now Thank We All Our God, Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by the rest of the royal party, climbed the forty steps to the memorial, where they met the families of some of those remembered on the memorial, whilst also pausing to view the overwhelming lists of names engraved in the Portland stone.
Then family members who had loved - and lost - took to the podium to read out poignant letters to - and from - those the memorial remembers
.
Brave nine-year-old Georgina Chapman, in an unwavering voice, read a letter -'To Daddy in Heaven' - to her father, Lieutenant-Commander Darren Chapman, killed when his Lynx helicopter was shot down over Basra in May last year - words which touched the hearts of the thousands listening to her.
She was followed by Gavin Lloyd, whose 18-year-old brother, Richard, died in a peacekeeping mission in Bosnia in December 1999.
In a letter written in the hope it would never have to be read, Richard wrote to his father: "I hope I have made you proud, as that's all I wanted to do."
As the ceremony was brought to a close by three Royal Marines buglers playing the Last Post, followed by the sound of bagpipes, The Archbishop of Canterbury blessed the memorial before the royal party left to the sound of the Winchester Choirboys in a ceremony summed up simply by one guest as 'very moving'.
