UK Forces Memorial
Inspired by a television programme which featured the cases of British and Commonwealth soldiers (a number of them under-aged) who were shot at dawn during World War One, artist Andrew DeComyn, crafted the statue of a blindfolded boy soldier awaiting execution. It was accepted for inclusion within the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire to form a section uniquely dedicated to the memory of these men.
The National Memorial Arboretum lies at the eastern edge of the newly-designated National Forest in Central England. It is a 150 acre site where planting began in 1997 and is dedicated as 'a living tribute to the wartime generations of the twentieth-century and as a gift in their memory for future generations to reflect upon and enjoy'. There are currently 56 individual areas commemorating many branches of armed and civilian services, as well as a Millennium Chapel, a Visitor Centre and restaurant.
Lying at the eastern end of the Arboretum, close to the River Tame, the Shot at Dawn Memorial Grove is, symbolically, positioned where dawn first breaks on the site.
The sculpture of Northumberland Fusilier Private Herbert Burden fronts a semi-circle of 306 wooden posts, each bearing the name of an executed British or Commonwealth soldier. At 16, Private Burden lied about his age in order to 'join up' and was executed for desertion, having lost his nerve during heavy fighting at Ypres. He was 17 years old. Read More
The National Memorial Arboretum lies at the eastern edge of the newly-designated National Forest in Central England. It is a 150 acre site where planting began in 1997 and is dedicated as 'a living tribute to the wartime generations of the twentieth-century and as a gift in their memory for future generations to reflect upon and enjoy'. There are currently 56 individual areas commemorating many branches of armed and civilian services, as well as a Millennium Chapel, a Visitor Centre and restaurant.
Lying at the eastern end of the Arboretum, close to the River Tame, the Shot at Dawn Memorial Grove is, symbolically, positioned where dawn first breaks on the site.
The sculpture of Northumberland Fusilier Private Herbert Burden fronts a semi-circle of 306 wooden posts, each bearing the name of an executed British or Commonwealth soldier. At 16, Private Burden lied about his age in order to 'join up' and was executed for desertion, having lost his nerve during heavy fighting at Ypres. He was 17 years old. Read More
