Poppy mural is planned for South West air base
PEOPLE in the Westcountry are being asked to pose for a picture holding up the name of someone in the military they want to thank – to help create a poppy mural to be installed at Ministry of Defence Lyneham in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire – the base to which soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan were repatriated.
BBC Radio Devon is among local radio stations urging people to send in the photographs which will be transformed into a stunning mural of a poppy and placed in the Memorial Garden at Lyneham’s Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Museum, at the entrance to the base.
Lyneham was where aircraft arrived, carrying the bodies of fallen soldiers who served in Afghanistan.
The piece will also be exhibited in Coventry in the build up the city becoming UK City of Culture 2021. It will be exhibited 80 years to the month since 500 German bombers destroyed much of the city in an overnight air raid.
Mary Sanders, senior news editor at BBC England, said: “We all know someone who serves or has served in the military. Sometimes it’s hard to find the words to thank them for the years or even decades they spent in uniform. This is our chance to thank them. We hope this poppy, made up of a thousand thank-you notes, will be a fitting tribute to the British heroes who died in battle, and those who continue to serve.”
You can upload a photo by visiting the website www.bbc.co.uk/radiodevon. The finished mural will be similar to one that the BBC made using listeners’ pictures in tribute to fund-raising hero Sir Tom Moore.
War veteran Simon Weston CBE – badly burned on the landing craft Sir Galahad in the Falklands War in 1982 – is among those backing the campaign and is pictured ( above) holding up a tribute to Andrew ‘Yorkie’ Walker. He said: “So few people will be able to get poppies this year – especially with so many sellers shielding at home. If people can’t buy a poppy, they can be a part of a poppy in the way that I’ve done. It would be great if they would still make a contribution, because the work of the British Legion doesn’t stop.
“Andrew was my best friend on the Sir Galahad. He never made it home. Fortunately, I did, and I remember and miss him every single day. I had the best times of my life with men like Yorkie. We’re going through some dramatic times tight now. I remember the times that we went through, they were good times, but I also remember the dramatic moment that separated us.”
Major Rick Henderson, director of the REME Museum, said: “The REME Museum is delighted and proud to be asked to display the BBC Local Radio Poppy. The poppy is a symbol of Remembrance and as such is a powerful reminder of those people in the military who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
The BBC will collect photos until November 8. An online version of the mural will be released on November 11.