A memorial to the former Gloucestershire Regiment has been unveiled at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire.

The ceremony was attended by the regiment’s last Colonel in Chief, His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester, who formally unveiled the three-metre high memorial last Wednesday (September 25).

The Glosters were founded in 1694 and were awarded more battle honours than any other county regiment in their 300-year history.

Unlike many national memorials, the Glosters memorial came exclusively from a fundraising initiative involving hundreds of former soldiers and officers who served in the regiment before its eventual merger into what is now The Rifles, the British Army’s largest infantry regiment.

To cover the cost of creating, maintaining and insuring the memorial, a target of £60,000 was raised and exceeded in just 12 months.

The campaign also received support from businesses and regimental funds, who were present at the Royal dedication ceremony.

The black granite memorial was carved, and engraved in gold leaf, by stonemason Nick Johnson.

At the crown of the deep black stone structure is a beautiful golden sphinx, designed and created by former Gloster officer and now a professional sculptor, Mark Swan.

On the memorial’s sides are recorded the regimental titles, badges, citations and other key facts about the regiment, famed not just for its two Napoleonic war badges – one at the back and one at the front of headdress – but also for its critical role during the Korean War.

At the Battle of Imjin River, the depleted regiment successfully staved off thousands of Chinese soldiers, before eventually withdrawing.

Many – inclduing several soldiers from the Forest – were taken prisoner of war and held in brutal captivity until the war’s end in 1953.

Undoubtedly, the regiment’s actions at the Battle of Imjin, played a crucial role in protecting the now capital of S Korea, Seoul, from being overrun and taken.

As a result, the regiment was awarded the United States of America’s military’s highest honour, The Presidential Unit Citation, worn with honour on the sleeves of every serving soldier.

There is more about the memorial at www.glostersmemorial.co.uk/