THE parents of three York servicemen who died in Afghanistan had no idea a memorial was being unveiled by the Queen yesterday, until they heard about it on the news.

The national memorial in Victoria Embankment Gardens in London is intended to honour the sacrifice and dedication of thousands of military personnel and civilians who fought and worked to bring stability to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Queen led the nation in recognising the efforts of soldiers, civil servants, charity workers and medical staff who put themselves in harm’s way or worked to improve the lives of others when she unveiled the landmark.

She was joined by Prime Minister Theresa May and former premiers Tony Blair, Sir John Major and David Cameron, under whose leadership the conflicts were fought.

>>> FLASHBACK: Report and photos from the day York's Afghanistan commemoration window was unveiled

But the parents of Lance Bombardier Matthew Hatton, Marine David Hart and Trooper Ashley David Smith, who all died during the conflict in Afghanistan, said they were unaware the ceremony was even taking place until yesterday.

Matthew’s father, Phil Hatton of Haxby,said the first he and his wife Jill knew of the memorial unveiling was when he watched the Breakfast TV news yesterday morning.

He said he understood it might not have been possible for them to be invited to attend, but it was ‘disappointing’ they had not been told in advance that it was going to take place.

“It would have been nice to have been aware it was happening,” he said.

David’s father Chris Hart, of Poppleton, also said the first he knew about the unveiling was when he heard about it on the news yesterday morning.

“I was a bit surprised we weren’t invited or informed about it,” he said.

Ashley’s mother Sandra Smith, of Acomb, said she had not known about the ceremony but said she would not have been able to attend.

York Press:

There has been strong criticism from some military widows elsewhere in the UK over the failure to send them an invitation or make them aware the ceremony was taking place.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, raised the issue in the House of Commons on Wednesday, urging the Prime Minister to apologise to the relatives of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for the “careless oversight.”

Mrs May said charities and groups representing the bereaved were asked to put forward names of attendees, and no-one from the “bereaved community’’ had been turned away and everyone who applied to attend had been successful.