THE memorial bell that will toll as fallen servicemen are brought home to RAF Brize Norton was unveiled over the weekend.

It will stand opposite the memorial garden on the edge of Carterton, where thousands have gathered for repatriation ceremonies.

People raised about £26,000 to pay for the bell, including £9,000 from the charitable trust run by Gannett, the Oxford Mail’s parent company.

The bell was the idea of Lee Mackie, pictured left with Ellie Simmons, 12, who won a competition to design an emblem round the bell.

Mrs Mackie lost her 21-year-old son Jason in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in May 2009.

She visited bellhangers Whites of Appleton on Saturday to see the bell for the first time.

The Bampton resident said: “To see this come from an idea to be standing in front of this absolutely magnificent structure is the most amazing feeling I have ever felt.

“When something like this can come out of adversity it makes my heart want to sing.”

She said she was moved to act after hearing the bell at her son’s repatriation in Royal Wootton Basset, Wiltshire.

“It brought everyone together and I think it is going to do the same at Brize Norton, she added.”

The bell was cast by London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry and Whites created an English oak structure for it to hang in.

It will be unveiled at the memorial garden during a ceremony on Saturday, June 30, Armed Forces Day.