GARRISON MEMORIAL PROJECT

In way of an introduction, I am the Commander of Catterick Garrison and in the year of the 100th Armistice, I want to have a lasting memorial in the Garrison to remember the fallen. Believe it or not the biggest Garrison in the UK does not have such a memorial. My plan is to turn what we call the camp centre roundabout into a befitting and lasting tribute. So, what is the project about?

Firstly, the Garrison was created by Baden Powell to train soldiers for WW1, it started with 2000 billets been built to accommodate 40,000 soldiers. The camp centre roundabout was initially the train turntable that allowed the trains to come into the Garrison drop off soldiers and stores for training, pick up trained soldiers and ammunition and send them to war. The project looks to capture the history of this and I am looking to have the project completed to unveil and bless on Sunday the 11th November 2018.

The roundabout is in the centre of the Garrison which has 4 approach roads to it. We are working with Calvert Architectural Stonemasons from Leyburn to make 4 statues carved from Yorkshire stone to go onto the roundabout facing each of the approach roads, these are:

• A WW1 train engine, behind the train engine will be a section of railway line.

• A Statue of Baden Powell

• A Statue of a WW1 Tommy

• A Statue of a Royal Flying Corps pilot. (The predecessor of the RAF who were also trained in Catterick)

• Around the railway line there will be the shape of a poppy where we will plant poppies/flowers

• On the railway line there will be two ‘there but not there Tommie’s used to walk the lines

As you can imagine, to deliver such a project is not cheap and I am looking at various funding streams including the AF Covenant, the local council, raffles, donations and sponsors.