Remembering the 97 - National Memorial Arboretum
On 25th September, 2025, a new memorial to the 97 soldiers who lost their lives in the massacre at Le Paradis was unveiled at a special ceremony in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal.
The Memorial which is split into two parts has the following inscription:
Part One - To the memory of the 97 soldiers who died in the massacre at Le Paradis Northern France 27 May 1940.
Part Two - Some of their names are unknown but all rest with God.
The service was led by The Chaplain General of His Majesty's Land Forces the Revd Cannon Michael Parker.
His dedication ran as follows:
O God, by whose mercy the faithful departed find rest, bless this memorial and send your holy angels to watch over this place. Look kindly upon all remembered here.......
Let is remember before God, and commend to his sure keeping those who have died for their country in war; those whom we knew and whose memory we treasurer, and all who have lived and died in the service of humanity.
The following was included in the thanksgiving service for the Le Paradis Memorial.
The Memorial has been created as the result of nearly three years of appeal and effort, following on from the raising of a memorial at Norwich Cathedral close to St Saviour' s Chapel, the Royal Norfolk Regiment Memorial Chapel. The memorials serve to honour and recognise formally, the indignity and illicit suffering by 97 men killed by their German captors during the withdrawal to Dunkirk. After surrendering and when unarmed German soldiers opened machine gun fire upon 99 soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force. On that day, 97 men were executed. Despite wounded soldiers being bayonetted after the execution, two British soldiers survived the ordeal and escaped death to later share the truth.
The Memorial which is split into two parts has the following inscription:
Part One - To the memory of the 97 soldiers who died in the massacre at Le Paradis Northern France 27 May 1940.
Part Two - Some of their names are unknown but all rest with God.
The service was led by The Chaplain General of His Majesty's Land Forces the Revd Cannon Michael Parker.
His dedication ran as follows:
O God, by whose mercy the faithful departed find rest, bless this memorial and send your holy angels to watch over this place. Look kindly upon all remembered here.......
Let is remember before God, and commend to his sure keeping those who have died for their country in war; those whom we knew and whose memory we treasurer, and all who have lived and died in the service of humanity.
The following was included in the thanksgiving service for the Le Paradis Memorial.
The Memorial has been created as the result of nearly three years of appeal and effort, following on from the raising of a memorial at Norwich Cathedral close to St Saviour' s Chapel, the Royal Norfolk Regiment Memorial Chapel. The memorials serve to honour and recognise formally, the indignity and illicit suffering by 97 men killed by their German captors during the withdrawal to Dunkirk. After surrendering and when unarmed German soldiers opened machine gun fire upon 99 soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force. On that day, 97 men were executed. Despite wounded soldiers being bayonetted after the execution, two British soldiers survived the ordeal and escaped death to later share the truth.
