War veterans, servicemen, wellwishers and public officials united to remember the forgotten soldiers of Cane Hill asylum at a special memorial event.
The memorial, held at St Mary’s Church, Addington on October 8, was attended by Lady Emma Kitchener, great-grand niece of WW1 field marshal Earl Kitchener.
During the service Lady Kitchener handed out 26 candles of remembrance to Croydon schoolchildren and other organisations in honour of the 26 until-recently unrecognised soldiers.
Her husband, Downtown Abbey creator and writer Julian Fellowes, was also there.
The event was begun with music from the Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers.
Representatives of the Royal British Legion, the Royal Chelsea Pensioners, the Household Cavalry, and Croydon youth groups attended the service to pay their respects to the war dead.
Lady Kitchener said: “This was a wonderful service – it was particularly lovely for young people to be included.
"I have been involved in lots of events such as this leading up to the Centenary of the First World War and the centenary of my great uncle’s death in 2016."
Julian Fellowes, Rev. Dr. Jeanne Males and Lady Kitchener
The service was conducted by the Rev Dr Jeanne Males who encouraged the congregation to reflect upon the importance of remembering soldiers.
Michael Lyons, who was part of the memorial campaign, said: “No-one mentioned what these men did – they were the guinea pigs of the First World War.
“We hope that today will help launch a national campaign to honour the war dead who have never been recognised because of their mental illness.”
Gavin Barwell, MP for Croydon Central, attended as did the mayor of Croydon Manju Shahul-Hameed.
The service was the latest development in a decade-long campaign to recognise the soldiers of Cane Hill admitted to the asylum during WW1 as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder, then known as “shellshock”.
Until recently, these men were not even recognised on the official Debt of Honour register.
Croydon Council has agreed to the erection of a permanent memorial for them.
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