First look at memorial to Our Boys funded by generous Sun on Sunday readers
Memorial will be unveiled this week in front of The Queen and Afghanistan veteran Prince Harry
A MEMORIAL to Britain’s desert heroes will finally be unveiled this week thanks to The Sun on Sunday’s generous readers.
On Thursday the Queen will be joined by royals including Afghanistan veteran Prince Harry as the Iraq Afghanistan Memorial is dedicated before a grateful nation.
Readers helped raise £1million to erect the monument to more than 300,000 who served in the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan, from 1990 to 2015, of whom 680 lost their lives.
The dedication will be attended by Nikki Scott, whose husband Corporal Lee Scott, 26, of the Royal Tank Regiment, was killed in Helmand in 2009.
She said: “For me this shows Lee has never been forgotten. It means so much to the families.”
Former Corporal Andy Reid, now a triple amputee, served twice in Iraq and once in Afghanistan, where he was maimed by a bomb in 2009.
He said: “It’s so important for future generations.
“In 20 to 30 years’ time, when Afghan and Iraq aren’t being mentioned, people can remember the sacrifice that was made.”
The memorial, shrouded in protective screens, has already been erected in the Victoria Embankment Gardens near Westminster.
Created by sculptor Paul Day, it honours twin themes of “duty and service” and features two huge stones, one representing Iraq and the other Afghanistan, united by a double-sided copper medallion.
The front will pay tribute to our troops, and the reverse to thousands of civilian heroes.
Ex Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Stirrup — chairman of the charity trustees behind the memorial — said: “Hundreds of thousands of people contributed to the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"It is important we honour and remember their service.”
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We launched the Dig Deep for Our Desert Heroes drive in 2014 and reached the £1million target in eight months.
Corporate donors included BAE Systems, BT, Diageo, Easyjet, Royal Mail, Marks & Spencer and Tesco.
The memorial will be unveiled by the Queen before the Royal British Legion lay on a reception for 2,500 guests.
The first Gulf War saw 47 British troops killed from 1990-91.
Another 454 died in Afghanistan from 2001-14, and 179 in Iraq from 2003-11.
A nation's pride
By SIR MICHAEL FALLON, Defence Secretary
THE unveiling of this mighty stone monument is hugely significant.
More than 300,000 warriors took part in our campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Many received life-long injuries while almost 700 made the supreme sacrifice.
Thanks to the generosity of Sun on Sunday readers, this memorial records their gallantry.
They are the pride of the nation.
D-Day Monument
THE courage and sacrifice of Brits killed in the D-Day landings and Normandy campaign is to be marked with a memorial.
The estimated 21,000 who died will be recognised on a monument in northern France for the first time, PM Theresa May has announced.
It will be unveiled in Normandy on the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019.
The government will pledge £20million from Libor banking industry fines to help with costs.