Den Danske Garderforening i Storbritannien

On Sunday the 7th May 2023 a memorial stone for fallen Danes was inaugurated in the garden of the Danish Church in London. Prior to the dedication of the memorial stone, there was a memorial service in the filled church, where Pastor Flemming Kloster Poulsen reflected on Søren Kierkegaard's thoughts on remembering the dead in order to understand how to love the living, as well as the symbolism of a memorial stone. The initiator of the memorial stone is the chairman of the Danish Guards Association in the UK, Amin Amirian, who, in September 2020, had a video call with co-initiator and former Colonel in the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, Wayne Harber OBE, who is now the Chairman of The Anglo-Danish Society. Amin wanted a place where he could remember and honour a fellow soldier from the Royal Guards who lost his life in Iraq in 2006, so he asked Wayne if there was a memorial for fallen Danes in London. Wayne returned a few days later and concluded that there were Danish memorials in the UK, but they were dedicated to specific events or individuals. That day the idea of a memorial stone was born. It was important that the entire Danish community in the UK was behind the project. The Danish Guards Association in the UK, The Anglo-Danish Society, The Danish-UK Association, and the Danish Church participated in the working group. Fundraising was quickly organised and successful. It was decided that the memorial stone should be placed at the church in London and be a memorial for all fallen Danes, whether they were in uniform or civilians. That it should be a stone which looks back into history and remains relevant for future generations. The former chairman of the Danish Guards Association in the UK, Anders M. Hansen, designed a proposal inspired by the runestones of the Vikings, which was approved by the working group. Now, all that was left was to find the stone, which stone mason Nick Johnson was supposed to do. However, it turned out to be more challenging than expected and caused delays in the project timeline. This resulted in Amin himself started searching for the perfect stone himself from a hotel room in New York one early morning. He found the stone shortly after speaking with a farmer in Cornwall who had the large stone buried in his fields. The large grey granite stone from Cornwall has the inscription: 'In memory of those who lost their lives in service to Denmark.' The Danish flag, Dannebrog, is carved into the front of the stone. It was decided that the memorial stone would be inaugurated on the Sunday closest to Denmark's Liberation Day, and it was done with songs, speeches, and wreath-laying. Among those present at the inauguration were Defence Attaché Brigadier General Jan Kazimierz Toft, Lieutenant Colonel Henrik Schirrmacher from the Royal Danish Life Guards, and Brigadier General Chris Davies OBE from the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.

En lille gruppe fra Garderforningen i UK afholdt vores årlige Lerdueskydningskonkurrence. Det var en hård kamp, der blev afgjort på den sidste stand, hvor Tobias la Cour vandt og dermed beholdte Trofæet.