Desert Rats descend on National Memorial Arboretum to mark 80th anniversary of El Alamein victory
Former and serving Desert Rats gathered at the National Memorial Arboretum to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein.
A memorial to those soldiers who served, fought and died wearing the jerboa insignia of the Desert Rats was dedicated at the arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire.
Major General Patrick Cordingley, Commander of the 7th Armoured Brigade during the first Gulf War, said "Remembering those Desert Rats that have given their lives in wars is so very important to us all.
"A Desert Rats memorial unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum is not only moving but inspiring."
The service was conducted by the Padres from the Desert Rats Association, 4th Infantry Brigade and the 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team, the current Desert Rats.
There were musical performances by the band of the Royal Yeomanry and a lone piper from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards played a lament following the blessing of the memorial.
Fighting under the command of Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery the Desert Rats defeated the legendary German General Erwin Rommel's troops at El Alamein which is seen as the turning point of the Second World War. The victory led to Winston Churchill's famous quote: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
The memorial features a steel jerboa on a stone plinth carved by veterans to resemble sand dunes; standing over 2m high, the sculpture is oriented towards El Alamein.
It is accompanied by the 7th Armoured Division’s stone ‘signpost’ memorial that replaced the original wooden signpost raised outside Berlin in 1945 to mark the end of their long wartime journey from the deserts of North Africa.
