Boys’ poignant tribute to grandad killed in line of duty outside new police memorial
Three young boys have paid their respects to the grandfather they never got to meet – on the site of a new national memorial to hero police officers killed on duty.
Harvey, 10, Reggie, seven, and Riley, five, from Walsall, have visited the memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
The memorial will be officially dedicated at the site on Wednesday.
Falling leaf-shaped apertures in the 12-metre tall brass sculpture signify the lives of almost 5,000 police officers who have died while protecting the public.
One of those was the boys' grandfather, Malcolm Walker, known as Mac.
West Midlands Police traffic officer Mac was deliberately rammed off his bike in Birmingham by a man driving a stolen car in October 2001.
The 46-year-old officer was catapulted off his bike into a bollard and later died from his injuries.
His widow Helen Walker said: “The memorial is in a lovely location at the Arboretum – a beautiful, peaceful place where people can go and reflect on the life of loved ones they have lost.
“It is a place where children, grandchildren and future generations can come and honour their heroes and the courageous sacrifice the fallen officers have made to protect the public.”
The £4.5-million project – which also includes a digital memorial and educational package for schools – was paid for through fundraising.
The memorial will be dedicated during a ceremony attended by dignitaries, senior politicians, representatives from across the police service, alongside the families of those who have lost loved ones in the line of duty.
