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Basra Memorial Wall Rededicated in Moving Family Service

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 11 March 2010

EMBARGOED UNTIL 1200 THURSDAY 11 MARCH

The Basra Memorial Wall was rededicated today in a poignant service at its new home in the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. The event was attended by almost 500 family members of the 178 UK Service personnel and one MOD civilian killed during Operation Telic, the name given to UK operations in Iraq 2003-2009. They were joined by HRH The Duke of Gloucester, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Defence Secretary and Defence Ministers and Chiefs, together with families from Denmark, Italy, Romania, and the Netherlands, representing some of the coalition personnel from nations also honoured on the wall.

During the service, which opened with a flypast of Tornado GR4s, the Operation Telic Memorial Candle was lit and a poem - Where Your Ashes Kiss The Earth - was read by Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Brown who composed it while serving in Iraq. Wreaths were laid on behalf of the nation, the Armed Forces and one by Brian Tanswell whose son Lieutenant Tom Tanswell was killed in 2006, on behalf of the families. A message of thanks from the people of Iraq was also read out.

Speaking after the service, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said:

“Today we paid tribute to those who gave their lives in Iraq on behalf of the nation and in order to provide Iraqis with a better life. This memorial, set in this Arboretum of remembrance, is a fitting monument to their sacrifice.”

Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup laid a wreath on behalf of the Armed Forces. He said:

“This memorial was built in Iraq by Service personnel in memory of their fallen comrades. It now stands before us, here in the UK, as a focal point for family, friends, the Armed Forces and the nation as a whole. It represents the commitment, bravery and sacrifice of our servicemen and women; it is a symbol of what they gave, and of the debt that this country owes them and their families.”

Brian Tanswell, who laid the family wreath said:

“I spearheaded the campaign to bring the Basra Memorial Wall to the UK, and through that contacted many families who, like myself, lost someone who meant everything to them in Iraq. I feel honoured to lay the wreath on their behalf, and take comfort from knowing this memorial is here for us, in its rightful place in the UK, an everlasting tribute to our loved ones, where families, friends and comrades can come and remember them.”

The Basra Memorial Wall was originally built outside the Headquarters of Multi-National Division (South East) in Basra in 2006 by members of 37 Armoured Engineer Squadron. It is a monument to all UK Forces and coalition personnel who lost their lives on operations in Iraq from 2003-2009. The memorial was brought back to the UK in 2009 and subsequently rebuilt at the Arboretum.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. At the start of the service a flypast took place of Tornado GR4 aircraft from 31 Squadron based at RAF Marham.

2. Mrs Tracey Hazel, whose son Corporal Ben Leaning, The Queen’s Royal Lancers, was killed on 19 April 2007, lit the Operation Telic Memorial Candle. Mrs Hazel originally lit the candle at the service at St Paul’s Cathedral last October. The candle was placed at the foot of the memorial for the duration of the service, before being moved to the Memorial Chapel at the Arboretum where it will remain.

3. Wreaths were laid by HRH The Duke of Gloucester, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, and Brian Tanswell whose son, Lt Tom Tanswell RA, was killed in Iraq in 2006. Brian was instrumental in ensuring the wall was brought over to the UK. Wreaths were also laid by representatives of the other nations represented on the wall.

4. The wreath laid by Brian Tanswell at the memorial today was originally laid at the wall while it was in Basra, on behalf of Mrs Angela Bateson in memory of her husband Major Nick Bateson, Royal Corps of Signals, who died in a road traffic accident in Basra on 1 May 2007. Mrs Bateson’s wreath was laid on the anniversary of her husband’s death on 1 May 2009, the day after UK operations in Iraq formally ended. The wreath was then brought back to the UK with the dismantled wall, and has been returned to its place at the service today.

5. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Brown, Commanding Officer of 7 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, read out his poem titled Where Your Ashes Kiss The Earth. It was written in 2008 when he was serving in Iraq. ‘JB’ Brown has been dubbed one of the new generation of war poets.

6. The memorial is hung with brass plaques listing each life lost during Operation Telic, the name given to the UK operations in Iraq 2003-2009. It also contains a central memorial plaque that was blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the national service of commemoration for Iraq at St Paul’s Cathedral in October 2009, in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen and 1,800 recipients of the Iraq Medal.

7. Today’s rededication service was the second and final national commemoration of the close of UK operations in Iraq 2003-2009, which began with the service at St Paul’s Cathedral on 9 October 2009.

8. The Basra Memorial Wall is situated alongside the Armed Forces Memorial (AFM), which also lists the names of UK Service personnel who lost their lives during Operation Telic. Inscribed on the AFM are the names of some 16,000 personnel who have lost their lives on duty, in peacekeeping missions, in training exercises or through terrorist action since the end of the Second World War.

9. The Armed Forces Memorial is situated in The National Memorial Arboretum, the UK’s year-round centre of remembrance, a spiritually uplifting place which honours and acknowledges the personal sacrifices made by the armed and civil services of this country. Part of the Royal British Legion family of charities, the Arboretum was created in 1997, and is situated in the heart of the country within the National Forest in Staffordshire. It contains 50,000 maturing trees and 160 memorials, and attracts around 300,000 visitors per year.

10. Photographs of the event will be available on Defence News Imagery website at www.dni.mod.uk, username: GuestUser, password: GoldenMedal

For further information contact the MOD PR Events team, Tom Callagher, 020 7218 0341, 07500 121264, tom.callagher880@mod.uk or Vicky Beacon, 020 7218 6162, 07876 477793, vicky.beacon625@mod.uk.

Contacts:

Ministry of Defence
NDS.MOD@coi.gsi.gov.uk