Page 117 - WishStream Year of 2023

Lucknow’s visit to the National Memorial Arboretum
On 8th November 2023, in the run-up to Remembrance Day, OCdts and staff from Lucknow Platoon were joined by other mem-
bers of Academy staff on a visit to the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) in Staffordshire. With over 400 memorials and around 25,000 trees, the 150-acre site serves as a year-round, living testa- ment to members of civilian organisations and the armed forces who served and fell in conflicts and peacetime since the First World War.
Lucknow’s time at the NMA started with a guided tour from Gary, a volunteer and former serviceman with the Royal Military Police. He led the platoon through the expansive site, introducing particularly poignant areas and pointing out the memorials for the regiments that the Seniors of Lucknow would soon be commissioning into. The tour also made deliberate pauses at little-known memorials that otherwise easily could have been missed, notably the memorial to the ‘Bevin Boys’ – volunteers for the front lines who were instead sent to work in the unimaginably tough and dangerous conditions of the mines.
OCdt Proctor
Lucknow’s guided tour ended at the impressive Armed Forces memorial in the very heart of the site, where the names of all military personnel to have died in service since the Second World War are commemorated. The platoon then had time to break out into groups and explore other parts of the site independently. Lucknow used this oppor- tunity to hold its own act of remembrance, includ- ing readings of quotes and poems, as well as mes- sages of reflection and a two minutes’ silence.
The atmosphere at the site was truly memorable and encompassed a broad range of emotions, from the contemplative silence near the memorials to the clear camaraderie of the other visitors shar- ing their own stories as they held their own acts of remembrance. With this said, the platoon agreed that the real power of the NMA lies in the fact that each memorial – elaborate or simple, big or small, colourful or muted – tells a unique story. While one trip did not afford enough time to explore all of the NMA, the time that Lucknow Platoon spent there was certainly valuable and all the more pertinent given the time of year.
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