Members of the Armed Forces who die on operations or in training are remembered on the new Armed Forces memorial in Staffordshire which was dedicated by Her Majesty The Queen last October. For some months now the military Chiefs of Staff have been giving careful consideration to how the nation might give additional recognition.
The chiefs have concluded that the time is now right to recommend a new national award for the families of those personnel who die on operations or as a result of terrorist action while on duty. This award will recognise their terrible loss and the sacrifice made by their loved one while serving their country. The chiefs’ recommendations have been welcomed by MoD Ministers, endorsed by the cross-government Committee on Honours and Awards and been approved by Her Majesty The Queen.
The recognition will be in the form of a memorial scroll and an emblem for wear. The scroll will be similar in concept to those that were issued to the families of those who died in the two World Wars and in Korea in the early 1950s. The introduction of an emblem for the families of those killed is not something that we have done as a nation before but similar recognition already exists, for example, in Canada and New Zealand. The Chiefs of Staff have also recommended that the award should be retrospective.
Much detailed work will now be required to consider what the criteria for the award should be, how far the award should go back, who will receive it along with other issues such as the design and production of the scroll and emblem. A team has been established and is pressing ahead with this work. This is a sensitive and complex subject and we must take time to get the details right. It will therefore be some months before the award will be ready for issue and I expect to be able to announce more details later this year.
I pay tribute to the bravery and courage that the families of all our serving men and women show and I hope that the new award will provide a more visible form of recognition from the nation for those who pay the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country.