Veterans of the Korean War have welcomed the start of work on the first major memorial to the 1,139 British servicemen who died in the conflict.
The memorial on Victoria Embankment Gardens is being paid for by the South Korean government in gratitude for the contribution of British soldiers during the three-year conflict.
Prince William unveiled a scale model of the monument yesterday at a ceremony attended by 50 veterans. The memorial will be a five metre-tall bronze statue of a British soldier by sculptor Philip Jackson. It will have a smartphone code providing access to websites with information about the war.
Alan Guy MBE, 81, of the British Korean Veterans Association, said: “We’re the only country that served in the Korean War that doesn’t have an accessible memorial in their capital city.
“The Korean War is often called the ‘forgotten war’. When this memorial is erected, it won’t be known as that anymore.”
South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who is on a three-day visit to Britain, broke the turf to mark the site where the memorial will be erected. Work will be completed by the end of summer.
