New Bradford war memorial is nearing completion

The memorial has been painstakingly decorated by a specialist craftsman, with the Bradford Crest on one side and the Joint Services crest, depicting air, land and sea, on the other side, with a Yorkshire Rose at the bottom of the low wall.

The memorial was first proposed by the widow of Sergeant Peter Rayner, who died in Afghanistan in 2010, as a way of remembering those who had fallen since the Second World War. It is situated behind the cenotaph in the memorial gardens near the Alhambra Theatre.

Bradford Council has been working with the Royal British Legion on the project and it is going to be officially unveiled later this year, hopefully by a member of the royal family. All work will be completed in four weeks.

Anti-vandal residue will coat the stone and etchings were chosen rather than stainless steel plaques because of fears of metal theft.

A pathway has been created around the other monuments – the Bradford Pals memorial, the Polish memorial and the Victoria Cross memorial – so people can walk around and remember those who have lost their lives.

It has taken stonemason Jonathan Albutt 38 days to do all the carving of the crests by hand and he is now adorning the stone with the words Lest We Forget and the names of all those fallen. Mr Albutt has been working in the searing heat to finish the memorial and said he was privileged to do the job. He has spent hours researching other memorials with Dave Bennison, a technical officer in design for leisure and parks at Bradford Council, and Danny Smith, the special projects officer (parks).

Mr Bennison designed the monument after coming up with eight ideas.

He said: “It is a major project and the stone has come from a quarry in Derby because of the size of stone needed and it is very hardwearing.

“The stone will blend in eventually with the Queen Victoria memorial.

“It has taken us a long time to get to this stage, but the etching and stone will give it a really nice finish.”

Mr Smith added: “It is a wonderful monument which we need to look after. It needed to be simple and work with the existing memorial.

“I think it is very important that Bradford remembers its war dead and those people who have made the ultimate sacrifice. It is a fitting tribute to those people in a very meaningful way.”

The entries on the new monument will include the name, rank and year of death, and it will commemorate those soldiers from the district who have died in active service in wars or terrorist action in such places as Northern Ireland, Egypt, Malaya, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The list of names to be added to the new war memorial:

Fus R M Keenan killed in Korea in 1951 Pte R Sugden killed in Korea in 1951

Mne F Jennings killed in Egypt in 1954

Sig H B Parkinson killed in Egypt in 1954

Bdsm G F Evans killed in 1955 (no further details)

Lcpl G A Todd killed in 1955 in Cyprus

Pte M J Hindle killed in 1956 (no further details)

Pte R Hudson killed in 1956 in Aden

Mne D G Whitham killed in 1958 in Cyprus

Mne F S Powell killed in 1962 in Borneo

Lt B Brown killed in 1965 in Malaya

Tpr M P Lawlor killed in 1966 in Aden

Dvr L Jubb killed in 1972 (no further details)

Capt J H Young killed in 1972 (no further details)

Tpr G Knipe killed in 1972 (no further details)

Lcpl C Harker killed in 1972 in Northern Ireland  

Lt H R Fawley killed in 1974 (no further details)

Pte L W Carroll killed in 1974 (no further details)

Gnr K Bates killed in 1974 in Northern Ireland

Lbdr K M Waller killed in 1982 in Northern Ireland

Cpl I Metcalfe killed in 1988 in Northern Ireland

Pte S J Beetham killed in 1988 (no further details)

Pte A M Croft killed in 2002 (no further details)

Sgt S M Roberts killed in 2003 in Iraq

Flt Lt D K Stead killed in 2005 (no further details)

Sgt C I Hickey killed in 2005 in Iraq

Spr J P Rossi killed in 2009 in Afghanistan

Sgt P A Rayner killed in 2010 in Afghanistan

Pte M S G Bell killed in 2011 in Afghanistan

Pte C A Kershaw killed in 2012 in Afghanistan