7/06/2010

 

 

More than 500 relatives of members of the armed forces who were killed in Afghanistan have gathered at the National Memorial Arboretum in a service of remembrance.

The annual service was held by Bishop John Kirkham and attended by families of the 119 people killed in 2009.

Hundreds of relatives laid floral tributes at the memorial before making a procession past the names of those who died, engraved onto a wall at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

The Armed Forces Memorial is the UK's tribute to the 16,000 men and women who have been killed on duty or as a result of terrorist action since the Second World War.

The memorial has space for 15,000 more names but because of the high number of casualties in 2009 - the bloodiest year in two decades - engraving has begun on the one remaining blank wall of the memorial.

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