WINCHESTER Army Cadets have raised £1,000 for a memorial to remember the men and women who passed through the city’s Morn Hill camps in World War One.

The young people from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Army Cadet Force raised the money through sponsored walks, swims and bag packing.

The memorial is being designed by nationally-renowned sculptor Simon Smith and will be unveiled near the Great Hall on Winchester’s Armed Forces Day, June 23.

The project honours a promise made in 1919 – and broken – to create a memorial for soldiers who passed through Winchester on their way to war.

The memorial team will stage an exhibition in the Great Hall in June and produce information boards on the site of the camp at Morn Hill, a mile east of the city.

The cadets presented the £1,000 cheque to the chairman and vice chairman of the memorial committee, David Harrison and Tony Dowland, after hearing about the campaign to ‘Honour a Promise’ to the estimated two million soldiers who went through Morn Hill.

Mr Harrison said: “The cadets have been marvellous and have been involved from the beginning. They have already raised £500 from a concert and this is the second instalment and they have promised to do more.

“It is fantastic that the young people understand and remember what happened 100 years ago and the sacrifices made for their freedom.”

Col Rod Lambert, Commandant of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Army Cadet Force, vowed to place a Poppy Wreath on the new memorial on November 11 each and every year.

He said the Army had launched ‘Operation Reflect’ to recognise the cost of war and remember the sacrifices made in the past.

Sgt Christopher Needham, 17, from Stanmore, added: “This is a really good cause and I fully support everything the Cadets have done for the memorial and what it stands for.”