Memorial details

Memorial type
Other structure
District
Lichfield
Town
Alrewas
County
Staffordshire
Country
England
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918), Regimental Memorials, Second World War (1939-1945), Gulf War (1990-1991), Iraq War (2003-2011)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: September 2012
    Attended by: AVM, The Venerable Ray Pentland, the RAF Chaplain in Chief, ACM The Lord Stirrup, ACM Sir Sandy Wilson, ACM Phil Sturley, Maj Gary Walker, Sqn Ldr Dave Smith.
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
68581

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Current location

memorial is no. 340 in Green Zone off Millennium Avenue and near the RAF Association Memorial Garden
National Memorial Arboretum
Croxall Road
Alrewas
Lichfield
Staffordshire
DE13 7AR
England

OS Grid Ref: SK 1847814565
Denomination: Undefined

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Description
A sculpted pair of Roman numerals depicting "II" in polished black granite fixed to the capstone of a tapering plinth of the same stone. The plinth has two further sections: the central section, on which commemorations are inscribed, and a base. The front face of the central section plinth has a commemoration below the squadron's crest; the rear face has the regiment's nickname ("Shiny Two"), squadron roundel and motto; and the side faces have inscriptions commemorating the squadron's history and battle honours. A gold-painted Wake Knot (which forms part of the squadron's crest) is placed at the centre of the history inscription. On the front of the plinth base is an inscription relating to the origin of the memorial. The memorial rests in an open grassed area on a stone square.
Inscription
[6 o'clock]: [Emblem]/ NO. II (ARMY COOPERATION) SQUADRON/ROYAL AIR FORCE/FORMED 13TH MAY 1912/"THE OLDEST FIXED-WING SQUADRON IN THE WORLD"/ THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO ALL THOSE WHO SERVED THE SQUADRON/SINCE ITS FORMATION AND TO THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES/FOR THEIR COUNTRY WHILE SERVING WITH THE SQUADRON/ [Plinth base]: PRESENTED BY II (AC) SQUADRON ASSOCIATION/ SEPTEMBER 2012/ [9 o'clock]: NO.II (ARMY COOPERATION) SQUADRON, ROYAL AIR FORCE/ NO. II (AC) SQUADRON WAS FORMED AT FARNBOROUGH/ ON THE 13TH MAY, 1912, AS PART OF THE NEWLY CREATED/ ROYAL FLYING CORPS, EQUIPPED WITH BE2 BIPLANES./ THE SQUADRON WAS THE FIRST FIXED-WING SQUADRON IN THE RFC,/ NO. I SQUADRON BEING A BALLOON SQUADRON AT THE TIME./ THE PHRASE 'ARMY COOPERATION' DERIVES FROM THE TIME/ DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR WHEN SQUADRONS WERE DESIGNATED/ IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR ROLE, NO. II (AC) SQUADRON'S ROLE/ BEING TO SUPPORT THE GROUND FORCES ALONG THE WESTERN FRONT/ WTH RECONNAISSANCE AND ADJUSTMENT OF ARTILLERY FIRE./ IT WAS DURING WORLD WAR ONE THAT TWO MEMBERS OF THE SQUADRON/ WERE AWARDED THE VICTORIA CROSS FOLLOWING ACTS OF CONSPICUOUS/ GALLANTRY, THE FIRST TO LT. WILLIAM RHODES MOOREHOUSE/ AND THE SECOND TO LT. ALAN MCLEOD, A CANADIAN PILOT/ WHO WAS SERVING WITH THE SQUADRON./ DURING THE 1920'S, THE SQUADRON WAS 'ADOPTED' TO THE FAMILY OF/ SIR HEREWARD WAKE, THE SQUADRON BEING NAMED 'HEREWARD'/ AND CARRYING THE 'WAKE' FAMILY'S KNOT AS PART OF ITS CREST./ [knot]/ THE SQUADRON SAW FURTHER SERVICE BETWEEN THE WARS/ IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD AND FOUGHT CONTINUOUSLY/ THROUGHOUT THE SECOND WORLD WAR./ THE SQUADRON HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN ALMOST ALL OF THE MAJOR CONFLICTS/ THAT HAVE INVOLVED THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM,/ IN PARTICULAR DURING BOTH GULF WARS, IN SUPPORT OF NATO FORCES/ IN AFGHANISTAN AND OVER LIBYA DURING 2011./ [12 o'clock]: "SHINY TWO"/ [squadron roundel]/ "SECOND TO NONE"/ [3 o'clock]: BATTLE HONOURS/WESTERN FRONT 1914-1918/MONS, NEUVE CHAPELLE, YPRES 1915/LOOS, SOMME 1916/ARRAS, SOMME 1918/LYS, FRANCE AND LOW COUNTRIES 1939-1940/DUNKIRK, FORTRESS EUROPE 1942-1944/FRANCE AND GERMANY 1944-1945/NORMANDY 1944/ARNHEIM, WALCHEREN, RHINE 1944/GULF 1991/IRAQ 2003.
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 2
    Served and returned: 2
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Rank, forename, surname, military honours
    Order of information: Undefined
  • Regimental Memorials
    Total names on memorial: 2
    Served and returned: 1
    Died: 1
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Rank, forename, surname, military honours
    Order of information: Undefined
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Undefined
    Order of information: Undefined
  • Gulf War (1990-1991)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Undefined
    Order of information: Undefined
  • Iraq War (2003-2011)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Undefined
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Base
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
  • Plinth
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Granite
  • Figure
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Granite
Listing information
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Sponsorship
Corporate
Details: II (AC) Squadron Association

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.

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© WMR-68581

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