THE ALL AMERICAN MEMORIAL PROJECT.

The story behind two memorials in the East Midlands.

In 2012, Adam began fundraising and campaigning for the construction of three memorials in the East Midlands, placed in the memory of three Regiments from the 82nd Airborne Division at their former campsites in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

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Whilst the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, based in Quorn from February to September 1944, had a number of memorials to their name in the village, and the 508th PIR had the same at their former campsite at Wollaton Hall, the remaining three Regiments that fought as part of the Division in WWII had nothing. 

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Difficulties in the logistics of placing a memorial to the 504th PIR at their former Shady Lane campsite in Evington, Leicester, resulted in a joint memorial placed in the Edith Cole Memorial Park in Scraptoft memorialising both the 504th and the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment. The 325th were camped less than a mile from where the memorial now stands, whilst the 504th were just a few short miles away. 

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The second memorial was built just outside the gates to Tollerton Hall, the former campsite of the 507th PIR. The memorial unveilings in 2013 were attended by three veterans of the 82nd Airborne Division, George Shenkle of the 508th PIR, Roland Daniel of the 507th PIR, and Herb Huebschen of the 325th GIR.