The Arboretum is a 150 acre site dedicated to memorials to those who have fallen in conflict in the service of their country. The idea was conceived in 1988 by Commander David Childs RN (retd) following his visit to Arlington Cemetery, Virginia; and the National Arboretum in Washington, DC. He soon gained full support for the idea from Group Captain Sir Leonard Cheshire VC, and thus started the planning and creation of the Arboretum that was eventually opened on 16 May 2001 by HRH The Duchess of Kent.
The Arboretum comprises over 300 individual memorials to regiments and divisions of the British and some foreign forces, plus some for civilians killed by terrorism or military action. There are around 40,000 maturing trees, many with individual dedications that will eventually form a forest within which stand the various memorials in their peaceful glades.
Centre piece is the Armed Forces Memorial. This was dedicated on 12 October 2007, in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen, to all those British servicemen who have been killed on duty in operational theatres or been targeted by terrorists since the end of World War II. There are over 16,000 such servicemen and women and every name is carved into the walls of the stunning memorial.
We took the tractor drawn train around the site on the 45 minute tour and here are some of my pictures of this lovely and peaceful place, right in the heart of the English countryside.
This first one is, as its shape implies, to those who died in the 9/11 Twin Towers attack.
This is The British Legion Never Forget Garden
Members of the Rail Industry who lost their lives are remembered by this sculpture of a locomotive in matt black granite.
My favourite, to The Parachute Regiment, the red berets. A superb sculture of Pegasus with a paratrooper in front hauling in his eqipment bundle.
The Showmans Guild of Great Britain are remembered in this colourful memorial.
The Polar Bear was the first memorial placed at the arboretum in 1998 and is a tribute to the 49th Infantry, West Riding Division.
Panorama of the interior of the Armed Forces Memorial.
One of the two large bronze sculptures that represent Loss and Sacrifice.
There is a poignant twist with this sculpture. Behind it in the stone wall there is a representation of a partially open door. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the sun shines through the narrow gap. Very reminiscent of similar events in Egyptian temples.
The steps up to the memorial.
There is a memorial that the train did not pass entitled 'Shot at Dawn'. This is in remembrance of the 306 soldiers from Britain and the Commonwealth, shot at dawn for cowardice. Later medical evidence showed that they were most likely suffering mentally from the trauma of war and were all posthumously pardoned in 2006. They are remembered with a white marble statue of a blinfolded 'Tommy' in his army greatcoat. Probably the most poignant of all..........
Just a small selection of the many and varied memorials. This is a 'must see' for anyone visiting the area.
