Poignant WEC memorial to Great War heroes is unveiled by Prince Harry

Prince Harry has unveiled a war memorial created by Lancashire-based engineering and fabrication company the WEC Group which honours the men and women who served in the Great War.

The stainless steel arch was made by the company’s m-tec division specialising in architectural metalwork fabrication.

Thousands turned out for the ceremony to commemorate the millions of men and women who travelled to and from the Western Front during the 1914-18 conflict.

The memorial is a catenary arch, a form in architecture recognised around the world, and sits at the top of a hill leading down to the harbour where boats awaited the troops to take them across the English Channel.

Tom Elliot, Divisional Manager at m-tec, said: “We are honoured to have played our part in the creation of this very special memorial to the men and women who sacrificed so much for us a century ago.

“It was fantastic to see so many people of all ages turn out in the sunshine for the unveiling by Prince Harry exactly 100 years since the war broke out.

Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe and chairman of Step Short, attended the ceremony.

“It makes a striking addition to the Folkestone skyline. The location of the arch is very fitting, standing overlooking the harbour where the ships waited to take millions of soldiers to France during the course of the war.

“I would like to thank the organisations that have been involved in building the arch, in particular the WEC Group from Darwen in Lancashire, who constructed the steel arch.”

Fabrication work for the arch was carried out earlier this year at m-tec’s Darwen factory and it was delivered ahead of schedule to international property company Land Lease, which carried out the construction work.

M-tec is one of Darwen-based WEC Group’s 12 divisions and it creates striking pieces of art which can be seen in towns and cities across the globe.