Award honours families of fallen

The families of 8000 British servicemen and women who have been killed in combat since World War II are to be honoured.

They will receive the Elizabeth Cross and a memorial scroll signed by the Queen.

The decision to make the award - the first given in the name of a reigning monarch since the George Cross in 1940 - was made to acknowledge the "lifetime grief" suffered by the relations of those who have died for their country.

Memorial scrolls were awarded to the families of the dead of the two world wars and the Korean War but then the practice fell into abeyance.

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have claimed the lives of 350 service personnel, were seen as the fitting time to revive the idea.