Thursday 16 June 2011

News - New war memorial for servicemen in Mansfield

The families of seven Nottinghamshire servicemen killed in action over 60 years have placed plaques bearing their names on a new war memorial.

The ceremony was held at the Mansfield Heroes Memorial at Carr Bank Park in the town.

It included families of men killed in the Korean war as well as relatives of L/Sgt David Greenhalgh and Pte Damian Wright, who both died in Afghanistan.

Deborah Smalley, Pte Wright's mother, said she was grateful to Mansfield.

She said: "A group of people that came to the memorial service that I do every year on the anniversary of Damian's death said we should get something together and do something for Damian in Mansfield.

"And I thought it was going to be like a brass plaque or something in town or maybe a bench and then we just got such massive, massive support that we've ended up with this big memorial in Carr Bank Park.

"That's absolutely fantastic. I can't thank Mansfield enough for all the support that we've had."

The small black granite plaques have been inscribed with the name, rank and regiment of each serviceman as well as where and when he died.

The stone in the main body of the memorial was quarried in Derbyshire.

Three black granite "tear-drops", representing one of the armed forces, form the centrepiece and were imported from Portugal.

The memorial has been built by the Mansfield's Heroes Memorial Trust.

The campaign started in October 2009 and individuals, groups and businesses have worked to raise more than £70,000 since then.

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