THE Queen unveiled a new memorial for soldiers who died while serving with the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment — including 22-year-old Darren Deady from Westhoughton.

She attended the event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to officially open the memorial and lay a wreath, and met some of the families of fallen soldiers.

Mr Deady's mother Julie Hall and his brother Daniel watched on as the memorial was unveiled, which will remember the 32 of its soldiers have died in service, 19 as a result of injuries sustained on operations.

Kingsman Darren Deady, who served in the second Battalion of the regiment, was injured in the Nahr-e Saraj District of Helmand Province in Afghanistan on August 23, 2010, and died a few weeks later at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

The memorial features a lion facing in the direction of the North West, in tribute to the regiment which recruits soldiers Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

It was formed in July 2006 as a result of the amalgamation of the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, the King’s Regiment and the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment.

The Queen holds the title of Duke of Lancaster, is the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief. She was visibly emotional during the service and on laying the wreath.

The use of the lion was chosen following a consultation across all ranks.

As well as being an ancient royal badge, the lion is also the regiment’s nickname and a symbol worn on the arms of its soldiers.

The monument, which was created by stonemason Nick Johnson and sculptor Georgie Welch, is cast in bronze and seated on a plinth of Cumbrian stone.

Brigadier Peter Rafferty, Colonel of the regiment, said: “This is the first memorial this regiment has commissioned since it was formed and it is appropriate that its focus is on the families who have suffered so much in that time.”

"We captured the essence of what our soldiers wanted to say about their characters and the character of the regiment."