The Fellowship’s Memorials

The Fellowship leaves a legacy of memorials which it created to serve as lasting reminders of the effort and sacrifice by the men and women of the services and also by civilians, which helped to ensure Allied victory on D-Day and in the battle of Normandy in 1944.

Memorial window, Portsmouth Cathedral

To mark the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984 the Fellowship commissioned a memorial window for Portsmouth Cathedral. It is dedicated to all those who served in the combined land, sea and air forces of the Allies in Operation OVERLORD. It was produced for the Fellowship by Carl Edwards (1914-85), a distinguished designer and maker of stained glass, and is located in the upper lancet window of the south transept of the medieval portion of the Cathedral.

In the central column of the window is the emblem of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, together with those of 21st Army Group, Second Army and First American Army. Down the left hand side are represented Great Britain, Canada, France, Norway, Greece and Czechoslovakia. On the right hand side are the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Poland and Belgium. The emblems at the foot of each column represent the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air force.

At the bottom of the window are the words of the famous prayer of Sir Francis Drake: ‘O Lord God, when thou givest to thy servants to endeavour any great matter, grant us also to know that it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory.’

The memorial window was dedicated in the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 3 June 1984 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, who won the MC whilst serving with the Scots Guards during the campaign in North-West Europe.

Memorial window, Bayeux Cathedral

With the support of the French authorities, the Fellowship installed a memorial window in Bayeux Cathedral, based on the original design by Carl Edwards for Portsmouth Cathedral. It was dedicated shortly before the 45th anniversary of D-Day in 1989 in the presence of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

The D-Day Story, Portsmouth

The Fellowship made an important contribution to the establishment of the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth in 1984. The Fellowship had been working for some time on the project with Portsmouth City Council and when the new museum was given the go-ahead, members of the Fellowship responded enthusiastically to an appeal for artefacts, documents, photographs, maps and exhibits of all kinds – most notably an amphibious DUKW – to create the first displays. The museum goes from strength to strength and with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund it underwent a £5 million redevelopment in 2017-18.

National Memorial Arboretum

In 2006 the Fellowship arranged for a tree to be planted at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire in memory of those who gave their lives on D-Day and in the battle of Normandy, and of all the members of the Fellowship.