Globalnav I would really like to thank you for offering your respects and I think they are very graciously accepted by people here.
On the thread - well I did some digging. It seems there indeed will be a memorial unveiled tomorrow. Its been kept I think under a low profile, and somehow I'm guessing that was a very deliberately made decision. I can honestly only vaguely recall reading about it only once, before today.
Its a strange day to have it- 9th March being post budget day so the newspapers/media are generally full of money talk.
Also on a Thursday is a very inconvenient day compared to say a Saturday or even a Friday, if you had been planning to travel to witness the event (not that you can anyway).
300, 000 British servicemen served over the whole rolling period 1990-2015 in the two theatres and I believe at least 680 died in theatre(s). How many more succumbed to other causes post deployment (injury, suicide etc) I know not.
Apparently it (the actual memorial) was originally sponsored by a right wing UK newspaper called the Sun. Unbelievably, arms manufacturer BAE allegedly also contributed to the cost of the build (although I'm finding that hard to quantify-nothing in the company website about it at all). But in fairness to them both it seems to be a memorial to the war itself and not the dead of the war (stand to be corrected there).
Provocative rag Russia today has a take on it though;
https://www.rt.com/uk/379732-war-mem...ws-invitation/
Not much at all on the British Legion website and nothing at all on the War Widows Association website. Seems the stuff about ignoring inviting widows, orphans and veterans is er..possibly true?
Anyway.. Britain in the 2017.