Basra Memorial Wall Moves To UK

A service to re-dedicate the Basra Memorial Wall will take place on 11 March at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, the Ministry of Defence confirmed today.

The monument honours the 178 UK service personnel and one MOD civilian who lost their lives serving on Operation TELIC.

The original memorial was built in Basra in 2006 and stood outside the front of the Headquarters of the Multi-National Division (South East).

Following the end of combat operations in April 2009, the wall was dismantled and returned to Britain.

It is currently being re-erected at the arboretum, close to the Armed Forces Memorial.

Families and friends of those who fell will be joined by senior government representatives and military Chiefs to remember those who gave their lives over the six year operation.

Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell said the wall is hugely significant for the families of those who fell during operations in Iraq, and for those who served alongside them.

"I hope the memorial will provide a place for people to come together and pay tribute to those remarkable men and women who gave their lives setting Iraq on the path to stability and prosperity."

Brigadier John Palmer, whose son Lieutenant Richard Palmer of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006, said his family will be honoured to attend the dedication service.

"All our family is tremendously proud of our son, Richard, and what he was achieving in Iraq. Whilst nothing can make his tragic loss any easier, we, and the other families, will have a new focal point for our remembrance."

Chief Executive of the National Memorial Arboretum, Charlie Bagot-Jewitt said the Basra Memorial Wall was different from other memorials as it was conceived, built and maintained by the colleagues of those that died.

(PR/GK)