A memorial to thousands of men who worked in coal mines during World War Two has been unveiled near Lichfield.
The Countess of Wessex visited the National Memorial Arboretum as the covers came off the Bevin Boys monument at the Alrewas site.
Many of the 48,000 who worked to keep supplies of coal flowing during the war were conscripts working alongside regular miners.
Their work has now been remembered thanks to the memorial, which was designed by former Bevin Boy Harry Parkes.
Sarah Montgomery, managing director of the National Memorial Arboretum, added: “We are pleased that the Bevin Boys are now represented permanently here, at the UK’s centre for Remembrance, and that they have finally been given the recognition they deserve for their vital contribution to the Second World War.”
