UK’s newest war memorial unveiled in Stoke Mandeville
Stoke Mandeville Village has unveiled the UK’s newest war memorial, completing a five-year campaign for an outdoor place of remembrance on the village green.
The memorial was unveiled on Saturday 7 November, the eve of Remembrance Sunday, by Lady Howe, the Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire. The ceremony included an Act of Remembrance, the Last Post, a two-minute silence and Reveille, followed by wreath-laying from representatives of the Royal Air Force, parish council, village organisations and residents.
Attending the ceremony were Greg Smith MP; Cllr Kirsty Shanahan, chair of Stoke Mandeville Parish Council; Cllr Sherrilyn Bateman, Mayor of Aylesbury; and Peter Strachan and Dean Field, the Bucks Council local ward councillors. RAF Halton was represented by station warrant officer Paul (Gerry) McGuire. The Revd Matthew Routledge led the act of remembrance.
Wreaths were laid by the Royal Air Force, Stoke Mandeville Parish Council, the Village Society, the school, Rotary, J Brown Funeral Services and Wendover News. A pupil presented flowers to Lady Howe.
About 40 members of the public of all ages were there too, some wearing their own military medals, or honouring those of their relatives.
The memorial exists thanks to the Stoke Mandeville Village Society and its founder, Jo Durden-Moore, who led the campaign from the start. She says it took five years of determination, fundraising and overcoming legal setbacks to get it built.
Mrs Durden-Moore told the crowd: “Stoke Mandeville is a historic village, yet until now it has never had a public war memorial – a place where the whole community could come together to remember, reflect and pay their respects.”
The new memorial is a smooth stone obelisk on a plinth surrounded by four sheet metal figures representing land, sea, air and medical service people, dedicated to everyone affected by conflict. Unlike most memorials, it is not a roll of the dead.
Although the names of those from the village who lost their lives in the two World Wars are recorded in the nearby parish church, Stoke Mandeville had never previously had its own public war memorial. Mrs Durden-Moore said remembrance “should not belong to one generation, one particular conflict, one faith or one group of people”.
Lady Howe said: “It is my privilege to unveil this memorial as a lasting place of remembrance for the people of Stoke Mandeville and for all who visit this village.”
Greg Smith, MP for Mid Bucks, spoke of the importance of a war memorial as a point of focus for reflection on the impact of war. He said that losses in wars affect not just individuals, but the whole of a small community like Stoke Mandeville Village.
Mrs Durden-Moore singled out Cllr Strachan for his “determination and commitment throughout the process”. He told Wendover News before the ceremony: “This is the culmination of a number of years of effort by a number of people, and I am so very pleased to see that it’s finally happened.”
The memorial is close to the village school, and Mrs Gina Lund, a teacher at Stoke Mandeville Combined School, spoke for the children. “Perhaps one day, some of the children standing here today will bring their own children to this memorial,” she said. “And they will tell them: ‘This is where our village remembers.’”
Mrs Durden-Moore noted that Buckinghamshire has seen relatively few new war memorials since the Second World War, citing Seer Green (2012), Watermead (2014), the Horse Trust near Princes Risborough (2018) and Charndon (2020).
Following the formal proceedings, villagers continued at The Bull pub, enjoying refreshments and the opportunity to catch up and socialise.