A BATTLEFIELD memorial to more than 11,000 Sherwood Foresters killed in the First World War is to be unveiled in Belgium.

And battle-weary soldiers are set to pay tribute to their forebears days after they return from fighting the Taliban.

Servicemen from 2 Mercian (Worcesters and Foresters), the new name of the historic battalion, are expected to attend a ceremony at Tyne Cot Military Cemetery.

The battalion is due to leave for Helmand Province in Afghanistan in March, and will return at the end of September or in early October before the memorial is unveiled on October 24.

The ceremony has been organised by the Sherwood Foresters Western Front Memorial Committee, who raised £14,000 for the project.

Members travelled to Belgium at the weekend to discuss it with historian Franky Bostyn, president of the Passchendaele Memorial Museum at Zonnebeke near Ypres, and local civic leaders.

Sherwood Foresters veteran and committee member Cliff Housley said: "They couldn't do enough to help us. Just about everything we asked for they agreed to."

The committee is now hoping to find two young descendants of Foresters killed on the Western Front to take part in the event.

Mr Housley said: "They would need to be between 12 and 16 and able to read a poem or text at the ceremony. Ideally we would like one person from Notts and the other from Derbyshire."

The memorial will be carved from Derbyshire stone by Alport stonemason Mark Eaton.

The committee is also hoping a high-profile figure will perform the unveiling ceremony, which will be attended by British and Belgian dignitaries and Belgian politicians.

Mr Housley said: "We have raised enough money to complete the project, but donations towards the future maintenance of the memorial would still be welcomed."

It is hoped the local school in the village of Passchendaele, the site of one of the major battles of the First World War, will adopt the memorial.

"We are fairly confident they will take up the opportunity," said Mr Housley. "The First World War is an important part of their curriculum."

The committee is also donating a stone plaque to the Passchendaele Museum, to thank the community for its help with the campaign.

Young people interested in taking part in the ceremony should call Mr Housley on 0115 972 8616.

andy.smart@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk