Soldiers Service is Set in Stone
THE parents of fallen rifleman Daniel Hume have attended a memorial service to honour those who lost their lives in Afghanistan last year.
Wendy Ellis Stafford, of Newlands Drive, and Daniel’s father Adrian Hume joined 500 mourners at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire on Saturday. They came from all corners of the UK to remember the 119 armed forces personnel who died in conflicts in 2009.
Daniel, 22, was serving with the 4th Battalion the Rifles when he was killed in an explosion while on foot patrol near Nad Ali, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on July 9. “For most of the 500 people there I think it was a harrowing and difficult experience,” said Wendy.
“I am pleased I went and will certainly come back but it was like a with grief.” Wendy said it was nice to see her son’s name engraved on the memorial but said it brought back the harsh reality of life without Daniel.
The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire is the only officially memorial recording names of almost 16,000 troops who have died since the Second World War.
“He is constantly in our thoughts but then it is right there and you realise you’re not the only one, that this has happened to other families as well,” Wendy added. “There was a lady with her sister who had lost her only son and a young woman in her 30s with a four-yearold child who must have lost her husband and was wearing his medals.”
Yesterday, Wendy and Adrian were invited to lunch at Highgrove with the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles, the head of the 4th Battalion the Rifles, and Prince Charles. “We are going from being right down to something of a high, but we know we are there because of our association with the Rifles and the loss of our son,” said Wendy. “But it is nice having something to look forward too.”