28/05/2008 07:49:00
An appeal fund is being launched to fund a new World War 2 memorial in Glasgow.
According to the BBC, there are plans to commemorate one of WW2's many tragedies with an Italian-style cloister garden in Glasgow. In July 1940, the Arandora Star, a ship carrying Italian and German internees, was sunk off the coast of Ireland. Almost 700 people died and 446 of them were Italian nationals who had made Britain their home. The proposed garden will be the first permanent memorial to these victims.
First Minister Alex Salmond and Archbishop Mario Conti are due to announce further details; it's anticipated that work on the project will begin in winter and continue for approximately a year.
Campaigners hope to raise £1.5m to create a memorial encompassing a café, exhibition space, meeting rooms, a gathering area and a central courtyard.
Archbishop Conti said: "The monument itself will be a fitting symbol of the great bonds of friendship between Scotland and Italy.
"This will be a garden for everyone. We plan a wall of names to remember those who have died and those who help build the cloister."
The memorial will be constructed next to St Andrew's Cathedral in Clyde Street and will join other famous Glasgow war monuments, such as the Cameronians in Kelvingrove Park and Glasgow University's Memorial Chapel.
This is the second war memorial that central Scotland will see constructed in the coming years. Last month, an international competition was launched to select a design for a new memorial in the centre of Edinburgh.