Wyndham Davies, Arthur Jenkins, Richard Jones, David Lumley, Edward Meredith, Albert Metcalfe, Thomas Shelton and William Davies—the names of the fallen from the second world war that were read out at the remembrance service that I attended in Raglan this morning. And in towns and villages across the country, countless more names were being read out at the same time—names of servicemen probably known now only to their families, but without whom we would almost certainly not be in this Chamber today with the freedom to debate the subjects we want to debate today.

Wales has a proud military heritage—men and women in our recent past called upon to defend, advance and, in some cases, lay down their lives for the cause of freedom. These past few months have been exceptionally challenging for all of us and, once again, the armed forces have continued to show their contribution to Wales in the face of the adversity of the global pandemic. As a nation, we've always been proud of our armed forces for what they've sacrificed and for the role they now play in supporting the interests of the UK around the world. On a personal note, I became particularly aware of issues faced by armed forces families when I married into one. My father-in-law is himself a veteran. 

My own constituency of Monmouth is home to the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers, the most senior regiment in the British Army reserve, and it has given continuous loyal service to the Crown since 1539. It is part of our reserve forces and is the only remaining militia unit in the British army. As Members will, I'm sure, appreciate, in this debate I could not fail to mention our links with HMS Monmouth in the constituency. This impressive ship is the seventh bearing that name in the Royal Navy, with a heritage that spans 354 years. As of 2018, it had the greatest number of battle honours of any ship currently serving in the fleet. 

Now, the importance of our war memorials dotted around Wales has been mentioned previously by Paul Davies and by other Members in the Chamber today. In villages, towns and cities across Wales, they are part of our shared history, linking families and places in their past common endeavours on behalf of the country. They are not just a reminder of what has happened, but of what shapes our futures. We are lucky to live in a liberal democracy, where we enjoy the sort of freedom and opportunity that so many other people are denied. These memorials remind me of the fact that what was defended in the face of adversity in the last century is so very precious, but also, we must continue to cherish, respect and defend those freedoms each day, not just for ourselves, but for each other. 

We should be rightly proud and thankful for the support our armed forces have given to Wales over the last seven months, but it is not good enough just to be thankful. We need to show a passion for all our armed services for their dedication, and for what they continue to do on all our behalfs.