AFTER 100 years, history has been made at the UK’s biggest military camp with the unveiling of a permanent and lasting tribute to fallen soldiers.

Four monuments, creating a unique centrepiece at the heart of Catterick Garrison, were unveiled by Dunkirk veteran David Evans as he celebrated his 100th birthday.

The statues commemorate the fallen, marking the 100th anniversary of the Armistice and the end of the First World War.

Mr Evans from Leyburn, a former cavalryman with the 13th/18th Royal Hussars, said: “I am so honoured and humbled to be unveiling this centrepiece. It is a powerful piece of work that will remind generation after generation of the sacrifices that have been made over the years. The military has meant everything to me since I joined up as a 17-year-old, so this comes as a wonderful birthday present.”

The centrepiece, which cost £50,000, was the brainchild of Garrison Commander Lt Col Joe Jordan, who was surprised to find that when he arrived at Britain’s largest military camp there was no dedicated war memorial, so he made it his mission to create one.

With the help of Welcome to Yorkshire, they approached Calvert Architectural Stone Supplies of Leyburn, and the firm came up with the design for the roundabout – four stone statues facing outwards on each of the four approach roads.

Catterick Garrison was established in 1914 by Lord Baden Powell to train soldiers for the First World War and the roundabout was where trains arrived to drop recruits off.

Those same trains then took fully-trained soldiers and ammunition to the Western Front; many never returned.

The four statues are a locomotive on a section of railway adorned with poppies and flowers; Lord Baden Powell; a First World War Tommy and a pilot of the Royal Flying Corps.

Lt Col Jordan said: “It is a masterpiece that will live on through generation after generation. The aim of this project was to give Catterick Garrison, the local parishes and community a centrepiece to commemorate the fallen that they can be proud of, it is no less than everyone deserves.

“This is a very proud moment for me after all the months of planning and the labour of love by Calverts. It is a great honour to have David here to perform the unveiling.

“This centrepiece would not have been possible without the generosity of Richmondshire District Council, the Armed Forces Covenant Fund, Koliko Films and the public for raising the money required to build such beautiful and evocative monuments.”

He also paid tribute to the work of L-Col Kate Hislop and her team of Royal Engineers who installed the heavyweight statues, which were crafted from blocks of local Witton Fell sandstone.

The statues were modelled on a team of soldiers and many of them of them were in the crowd watching the unveiling of the new memorial.

The train is based on a steam locomotive, WD 94A2-4OT, which operated at Catterick Camp for many years.

Lt Col Jordan added: "It will be a truly lasting and fitting memorial."