Memorial details

Memorial type
Wall
District
Lichfield
Town
Alrewas
County
Staffordshire
Country
England
Commemoration
Iraq War (2003-2011)
Maker
37 Armoured Engineer Squadron (Builder)
Ceremony
  • Dedicated
    Date: 2006
    Attended by: Undefined
  • Rededicated
    Date: 11th March 2010
    Attended by: The Rt. Hon Gordon Brown, Prime Minister; David Cameron MP and Leader of the Opposition; Nick Clegg MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats
  • Show More (1)
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
59914

Support IWM

Donate with Just Giving

Any gift we receive makes a vital contribution to our ongoing work, from conserving our collection to supporting our public programme.

Make a Donation
Current location

Memorial is no. 321a in Green Zone on right hand side of the Armed Forces Memorial and near the start of The Beat
National Memorial Arboretum
Croxall Road
Alrewas
Lichfield
Staffordshire
DE13 7AR
England

OS Grid Ref: SK 1841014352
Denomination: Undefined

View location on Google Maps
Previous locations
  • Outside HQ of Multi-National Division (South East)
    Iraq
    Basra Air Base
    Iraq

    OS Grid Ref: Undefined
    Denomination: Undefined
Description
The original memorial wall from the Headquarters of the Multi-National Division (South-East) in Basra, Iraq. The wall is made of brick and polished red-brown granite and has a central panel flanked by two angled wings. Each section of the wall is supported by pillars of the same stone. On the inner face of the central panel is a white marble tablet with a commemoration. On each facing wing are individual commemorative brass plaques, 179 in total, for the 178 service personnel and one MOD civilian who lost their lives in Iraq. Each plaque bears the individual's regimental insignia, name, rank, date of and age at death. The memorial also lists the names of members of Coalition Forces who were under UK Command and who lost their lives during the conflict. On the back of the central panel is a further inscription describing the history of the memorial below a circular engraving of the Operation TELIC Campaign Medal. Close to the wall is a metal information plaque which provides information about the individual commemorative plaques.
Inscription
[Central facing panel tablet]: HONOURABLE AGE DOES NOT/ DEPEND ON LENGTH OF DAYS, NOR/ IS THE NUMBER OF YEARS A TRUE/ MEASURE OF LIFE/ WISDOM 4:8/ IN MEMORY OF BRITISH PERSONNEL WHO HAVE DIED ON OPERATION TELIC/ AND THOSE COALITION PERSONNEL KILLED IN SOUTHERN IRAQ/ [Central rear panel]: THE BASRA MEMORIAL WALL/ [TELIC Campaign Medal]/ THIS MEMORIAL WAS REBUILT USING THE BRICKS AND SLABS/ FROM THE ORIGINAL WALL BUILT BY BRITISH SERVICE PERSONNEL IN BASRA IN 2006/ WHICH WAS DISMANTLED AND RETURNED AT THE END OF COMBAT OPERATIONS IN 2009/ [Information Plaque]: THE BASRA MEMORIAL WALL PLAQUES/ THESE BRASS PLAQUES ARE THE ORIGINALS FROM THE BASRA MEMORIAL WALL,/ WHICH STOOD OUTSIDE THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION/ SOUTH-EAST IN BASRA, IRAQ. THEY WILL BE CLEANED TWICE A YEAR BUT/ IN BETWEEN THEY WILL BE ALLOWED TO WEATHER NATURALLY. THIS WILL ALLOW THE/ DETAILS ON THESE ORIGINAL PLAQUES TO LAST FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE FOR THE/ BENEFIT OF FUTURE GENERATIONS.
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • Iraq War (2003-2011)
    Total names on memorial: 179
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 179
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Rank, initials, surname, regiment, manner of death, date of death, age at death
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Wall
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Brick, Marble
  • Plaques / Panels with names
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Brass
  • Tablet
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Marble
  • Plaque
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Metal
Listing information
Condition
History
April 2009: Withdrawl of UK troops from Iraq. Wall dismantled by 37 Armoured Engineer Squadron in May. Bricks used in the construction of the original wall in Basra were found to be unsuitable to the UK climate and so they have been used to form the foundations and core of the wall with the external facing in marble.
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Reference

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.

This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:

© WMR-59914

For queries, please contact [email protected].