Girders to remember 9/11 British victims found rusting in a farmyard

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67 Brits lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks, meaning that Britain suffered more fatalities during those attacks than any country in the world other than the US. Most Brits died in 9/11 than died in the 7/7 attacks on London in 2005.

To honour the 67 British dead, the US gave Britain a 28ft piece of steel from the World Trade Center which was turned into a sculpture and put on display at Battersea Park in south west London for a short time after it was shipped over from New York on the tenth anniversary.

The 28ft structure in place in Battersea Park, London, which was put on display for less than a month​

It had been intended to be a reminder of the events of that day which claimed 2,977 lives - 67 of them were from the UK, the second most affected country in the atrocity.​

The structure was pulled down after 28 days and it was then put into storage.​

But it has now been tracked down by The Sun newspaper which has published pictures showing it rusting away in an anonymous car park on a Cambridgeshire farm. It has since been moved to a Tube depot in Ruislip, North London.​

The 9/11 London Project raised £250,000 in charitable donations to have the girders shipped over and welded together to form the structure.​

Founder Peter Rosengard said: 'The artwork is still in storage as nowhere can be found to put it. It's an insult to those who died and it causes me great sadness that the UK has not found a place for it.'​

Another campaigner described the fact that the memorial had apparently been so unceremoniously dumped as an insult to New York and a 'national embarrassment'.​

Lord Alan West of Spithead, a friend of the project, said: 'It's an absolute disgrace. I understand Boris (the Mayor of London) is saying "Why don't we look at Olympic Park?".​

'I think that's fine but in my personal opinion I think it needs to be more in the City. I think it would be appropriate in the City because that's where there is the main link with it. ​

'But it is better than being left in a bloody barn.'​

The artwork, entitled After 9/11, was designed by American artist Miya Ando and went on display in time for the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.​

The sculpture, crafted from three sections of the Twin Towers, was unveiled on September 5, 2011, in a temporary home in Battersea Park by Boris Johnson, alongside former New York City Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen and the artist.​

Britain was one of just a handful of countries to receive fragments from the WTC.​

London Mayor Boris Johnson pictured (left) at the unveiling of the memorial in Battersea Park where it stayed for 28 just days​

67 Britons were killed on 9/11, second only to the number of Americans killed​

Read more: 9/11 girders given to the UK to remember the 67 Britons who died in terror attack are discovered rusting away in a farmyard | Mail Online ​

 

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I think that's disgusting, a really poor way to honour those that perished, which is what it's supposed to represent. Any particular reason why the original display couldn't remain where it was? I mean, why did that have to be only temporary and, if it absolutely needed to be, why take it down prior to finding a permanent home?

 

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9/11 Remembrance Canceled in New Jersey, No One Tells Families


Families of 9/11 victims showed up at a New Jersey memorial for a remembrance on Sunday, but the event had been canceled without anyone letting them know.

Some relatives of victims told NBC 4 New York that about 30 family members arrived at the Empty Sky Memorial in Jersey City, but there weren't any speakers, podiums or chairs. Just an empty park. Organizers had unceremoniously canceled the ceremony just three days prior.

"If it had to be canceled for an emergency reason, I can see that," said Adam Kane, whose brother, Howard, was killed in the attack. "But surely they could get a politician or clergy member to speak because we shouldn't forget what happened."

Howard Kane's family was one of the hundreds that received postcard invitations to the event at the memorial in Liberty State Park. But organizers said a series of setbacks forced them to cancel the event.

"We're really sorry if they went out of their way," said Rick Cahill with the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation. "We appreciate them coming down and we would hope that people would come down without an invitation every September to visit the site."

The site was damaged during Hurricane Sandy, officials said, and repairs weren't complete in time for the service. Organizers were also unable to recruit politicians to speak at the ceremony, and just last week, the memorial's website crashed. Cahill, whose son Scott was killed in the attack, couldn't get the site back up in time to formally cancel.

Board members for the foundation said they'd try harder to recruit more speakers for next year's service. But they said they might have to wait until the 20th anniversary of the attacks in 2021 to get a crowd gathered at the memorial gain.

It's not the first time the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation has had to cancel an event. In the spring, a golf outing fundraiser was called off when not enough people registered.

Shelly Kane, Howard Kane's mother, said she is worried people are forgetting about the attack that killed her son, who was working at Windows on the World that day nearly 11 years ago.


9/11 Remembrance Canceled in New Jersey, No One Tells Families | NBC New York