Photo - Armed Forces Memorial at NMA Alrewas Staffs

I have great pleasure in welcoming you to our website: it is dedicated to the memory of all British Army apprentices.

Our object has been to establish a perpetual memorial to our boy soldiers at the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) at Alrewas, Stafforsdshire.

 The Army Apprentice Scheme, which ran from 1923 to 2004 trained more than 70,000 soldier tradesmen for the technical corps of the British Army. Boys aged 14 to 17 were recruited to follow recognised apprenticeships at Army Apprentice Schools/Colleges before passing out to serve in the Regular Army. Later as soldiers, NCOs and officers these men formed a nucleus of military and trade skills of their various corps.

Following World War 2, army apprentice training was centred on schools established at Arborfield, Carlisle, Chepstow and Harrogate, (although a number of other establishments have existed at various times). It is the old boys’ associations of these four former establishments who joined together to plan, design and put into effect the memorial project.

A design for the memorial was formulated in late 2009 and the memorial design was approved in early 2010 by the NMA Trustees and a woodland site allocated. The project, was recognised as a registered charity in 2010. The memorial was unveiled at a dedication ceremony attended by more than 500 supporters and guests on Wednesday 7th September 2011.

The cost of the memorial has been funded in the main by donations from ex-apprentices or their families as well as by a number of local councils and regimental associations. However, there is still a need for further money to cover maintenance and insurance so further donations are still needed.

The Memorial Trustees are grateful for any further donations to the Memorial Fund, which will help us maintain the memorial over the longer term. The Trustees thank all who by their generous donations have made it possible.