The names of the 67 servicemen and women killed on duty during 2008 were today being engraved on the walls of the Armed Forces Memorial in Staffordshire.

Stone mason Nick Hindle this morning began adding the names to the portland stone walls of the memorial, which is located with the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, near Lichfield.

Each spring the names of men and women killed on duty or as a result of terrorism during the previous year are etched onto the striking structure.

The intricate work is expected to take around three weeks.

The Armed Forces Memorial, which was dedicated by the Queen in 2007, carries the names of nearly 16,000 servicemen and women who have been killed since shortly after the Second World War.

The National Memorial Arboretum now attracts around 300,000 people every year, with Prince William among the most recent visitors to the site.

Prince William visited the arboretum on Friday and formally accepted an invitation to become patron of an £8 million appeal that will see the site transformed into a world-class centre for remembrance. The young royal spoke toured the arboretum and spoke to bereaved family members whose loved ones are commemorated at the site.

He also spent around half an hour within the confines of the Armed Forces Memorial itself.

He took a private moment to remember two of his own friends who were killed in action.

Second Lieutenant Jo Dyer, who died in Iraq in 2007, and Captain Lex Roberts, who died the same year in Afghanistan, were both at Sandhurst with Prince William.

Their names are among those most recently engraved on the walls of the memorial.

To find out more about the arboretum visit www.thenma.org.uk