You may remember a few weeks we reported how Nexus were donating used track to help a new war memorial to be built in South Tyneside, and now some of their workforce have volunteered to help build it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The war memorial is being built in North Marine Park, South Shields and is commemorating British soldiers who served in the Far East during World War II. It is located next a statue of Len Gibson, who was captured by Japan and forced to build the \u201cDeath Railway\u201d between Thailand and Myanmar from 1942 to 1943.<\/p>\n
Stuart Clarke, Infrastructure Director at Nexus, said: \u201cNexus volunteer days help to deliver essential support for social value projects across the communities that we serve. I can\u2019t think of a more worthy scheme than this new war memorial for South Shields.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team have supported the construction of the tracks, creating a lasting memorial for Len Gibson and the many thousands of British soldiers who served in the Far East during the Second World War.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe donation of the used Metro tracks is particularly poignant, given that British prisoners of war, including Mr Gibson, were forced to build the \u201cDeath Railway\u201d, from 1942 to 1943.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur infrastructure team have really enjoyed supporting such a worthy project. We are looking forward to the completed memorial being officially unveiled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local philanthropist Brian Burnie was behind the statue of Len Gibson and is also he brains behind this latest memorial. He said: \u201cI cannot thank Nexus enough for their support. The donation of the used Metro rails has been absolutely vital. The volunteer day to install the track has been critical to the success of the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe memorial will be amazing. It will be an extra part of the Len Gibson statue, representative of all those men who worked on the Burma railway when they were prisoners of war in the Far East.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are called the Forgotten\u00a0Army\u00a0and I want to redress that issue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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