Her Majesty's Lord
Lieutenant of Staffordshire Mr Ian Dudson CBE and Mrs Jane Dudson
UK;
Lord Lieutenant Dudson recognised the
importance of the Combined Operations Command by his attendance at the
dedication ceremony and participation in the form of a speech about
the Combined Operations Command website, the educational component of
the memorial particularly for the benefit of younger generations now
and in the future.
General Sir Richard Barrons KCB CBE ADC Gen,
UK; On his appointment as Commander of the
Joint Forces Command, General Barrons agreed to fulfil the
commitment of his predecessor, Air Chief Marshall Peach.
No greater honour could be bestowed on the service personnel of
yesteryear, than for the Commander of their modern equivalent Force to
honour their memory and achievements in this way.
Air Chief Marshall Sir Stuart Peach, KCB, CBE.
UK; Air Chief Marshal Peach kindly agreed to unveil the dedication plaque at
a ceremony to be held at the National Memorial Arboretum on July 4
2013. Although no longer able to keep this appointment due to a change
of post, we are grateful to him for recognising the important work of
the Combined Operations Command during WW2.
Major General Michael Charlton-Weedy
UK; For interest, support, encouragement and
several substantial donations to the memorial fund.
Professor Arthur R Quinton
USA; General advice and support over the lifetime of the
memorial project, repeated donations including one from his son,
Keith, of £500 towards the cost of the dedication ceremony.
David A Thorp
Spain; Gift of his painting entitled "Combined Operations - A Normandy
Beachhead" measuring 750 mm x 550 mm. Gift of the rights to
produce prints for fundraising purposes. All proceeds in aid of the Combined Operations Memorial Fund.
Participation in fund raising ideas and events.
Richard Stimpson
England; Designed and procured the timber for the information
display and raised £500 for the memorial fund by
undertaking a sponsored walk, backwards. Organised 6 standard bearers
at the dedication ceremony.
Member of the
Friends of the Combined Operations Memorial (FOTCOM) who undertook
frequent maintenance visits to the memorial. Supplied photos
periodically to permit remote monitoring of maintenance needs.
A loyal supporter over many years.
Tony Chapman
England; Archivist and Historian for the LST and
Landing Craft Association. Throughout the life of the memorial
project, Tony provided material for dozens of web pages about landing craft
and their crews. He also provided historically
accurate information and advice to military artist, David Thorp,
during work on his painting "Combined Operations - A
Normandy Beachhead"
and for over 10 years he answered countless enquiries received by the
website on matters related to landing craft. Sadly, Tony passed away on
June 6th 2013. He was a good and loyal friend of the Combined Operations
Command Memorial. He was represented at the memorial dedication ceremony
by his son Paul.
David and Danny Bonnar
Scotland; Donation of four large stones and a cubic metre of
smaller rocks for the mosaic wall from the Clachan Quarry on the
shore of Loch Fyne. It was in this area that around 250,000 practised amphibious landings
under the Combined Operations Command as well as Commando manoeuvres
in the surrounding hills. Clachan Quarry.
Sheila and Mike Phillips England;
Advice, support and encouragement.
Members of the Friends of the Combined
Operations Memorial (FOTCOM) who undertook frequent maintenance visits
to the memorial.
Colin & Jean Gillespie
Scotland; Advice, support and practical help
in selecting one cubic metre of small rocks from
Clachan Quarry in Scotland and delivery to the National Memorial Arboretum,
travelling 750 miles over two days. Also assistance at the dedication
ceremony.
George H Pitt
Canada; Throughout the life of the project
George provided advice
and comment on the application to the National Memorial Arboretum and
on countless web pages written by others. Was the author of a number of
web pages himself including D-Day and Dieppe. Supplied graphics of the memorial
design for the website.
Gloria Siggins
Scotland;
Support, encouragement and provision of
names of 'interested' parties for fund
raising plus a very substantial donation to the memorial fund.
Ian Carrington
England; In November 2009, Ian undertook a fundraising walk with
his two dogs,
Bailey and Lucy, as companions.
Raised £1,044 for the memorial fund. For over 2 years he was
a member
of the Friends of the Combined Operations Memorial (FOTCOM) and
undertook frequent maintenance visits to the memorial and completely
refurbished the memorial's information display board.
Larry Jones
England; Great Barr Sawmills, Birmingham. The supply of cut timber, at cost, for the memorial information display.
Leslie Whipps
England; Ex
No 9 Commando who completed the Commando re-enactors Fund Raising
March '06 between Achnacarry and Spean Bridge in Scotland.
LST and Landing Craft Association
England; Publicity for memorial in their 'Kedge Hook' newsletter.
Pam Wright
England; Support, advice and encouragement. Marketing and publicity advice and suggestions.
Patrick van der Vegt
Holland; Together with Peter Scally he
organised a Commando Re-enactors Commemorative March in April 2006
involving around 35 men from a number of countries. £1,500 was raised which was a huge boost to the
memorial fund in the early years.
Peter Scally
Scotland;
ditto.
Phil Jones Wales; Support, advice and countless submissions to the website mainly on training
establishments.
RAF Historical Society
England; Nomination of the Sitka spruce tree to represent the RAF
in the memorial design.
RN Naval Historical Branch
England; Nomination of the oak tree to represent the RN.
Terry Carney
England; A member of the
Military Heraldry Society he auctioned a Combined Operations Badge he
had made from a variety of military buttons raising £200. Also
produced colour prints, on Buckram cloth sheets, of early unused
designs of the Combined Operations badge, which were used for fund
raising.
War Memorials Trust
England; For two years before the memorial fund had its own bank
account, the War Memorials Trust received and banked donations on
behalf of the fund.
Website.
