Dear All,

Welcome to you all to this New Year for Remembrance. We wish you all the very best in the coming months, and hope you will be able to live your lives to the happiest full. It's a grand way too, we think, to thank those who Fell, who had very little life at all.

Last year was another busy one. As always we answered many queries and visited relatives and friends of our Dovorian Fallen; this is one of the great pleasures of Remembrance and we truly have met some wonderful people. This is, we think, a beautiful legacy arising from tragedy - from loss of loved ones comes the bringing together and meeting of others, and the forging of great friendships.

We thank very much indeed those who have so kindly supported The Dover War Memorial Project, through donations, research, information, and simple friendship. On behalf of all our volunteers, friends and supporters, were greatly touched  to receive two awards, our Mayor's Civic Award and a Royal British Legion County Award, for The Dover War Memorial Project to the continuing honour of our Fallen.

This year our Fallen have been greatly honoured indeed, as Admiral the Lord Boyce, KG, GCB, OBE, DL, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle most graciously chose to become Patron of The Dover War Memorial Project. He has taken a great interest in our work, as does our first honoured Patron, Dame Vera Lynn. To remember our Fallen is a great privilege and a deep trust, and we will continue to do so with love as long as we are able.

There are many ways of ensuring our Fallen are never forgotten, and this year we have given talks, held exhibitions, and attended and assisted at many Remembrance events, as well as visiting and tending to the last resting places of our Fallen. We continued to work this year on the large Unknown Warrior educational project; many thousands have now seen the exhibition and educational resources are available online and have been distributed to schools and other young people's groups. That it is essential that the sacrifice of our Fallen is always brought to mind is underlined by the theft of a plaque from the memorial at River last year. An understanding of duty, respect, empathy, and honour could not contemplate such a deed.   

What will the New Year bring? We have already several plans in mind, including a couple of new exhibitions and talks. The first and most important, though, is that this year our Town Council are due to update our memorial with more names of our Fallen. Those whose names have already been requested are listed here: if you would wish your Dovorian loved one to be commemorated this way, please do let us know.

Thank you to you all, who never forget those who gave all they could.

Maggie
(Marilyn Stephenson-Knight)

January 2012