Welshpool's VC hero

 The town hall (also used as a market hall) stands proudly on the main street of Welshpool, a small town on the Welsh border. It dates back to the early 19^th century. If you look carefully down a narrow street to its side you will find a stone plaque to the memory of William Herbert Waring,  who was born and lived in the town and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military award for personal bravery.

On 18 September 1918 at Ronssoy in northern France, Lance Sergeant Waring, of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (previously the Royal Welch Fusiliers) led an attack against an enemy machine gun post and in the face of devastating fire single-handedly rushed the strong-point, bayoneting four of the garrison and capturing 20 prisoners with their guns. He then returned to reorganise his men and, under heavy shell and machine gun fire, led and inspired them for another attack over 400 yards, before falling mortally wounded himself.

Waring is buried at Ste Marie Communal Cemetery, Le Havre, Seine Maritime, France. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum, Caernarfon Castle, Gwynedd, Wales. He
had already been awarded the Military Medal for bravery in Palestine. His official citation referred to his “valour, determination and leadership” and stated that the award was made for “most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty”. His parents, no doubt proud but grieving at the same time, received his Victoria Cross at an investiture at Buckingham Palace.

Welshpool’s pride in its local hero was demonstrated when the, impressive but also somewhat

unassuming memorial was unveiled in January 2018. His name and awards are also inscribed on a gravestone in nearby Christ Church.

The Men of the Cambrian Railways

 
Cae Glas Park in the centre of Oswestry, Shropshire is a beautiful seven acre site with extensive lawns, sports facilities, a children's playground and lovely Victorian bandstand. It is a significant tourist attraction, loved and used by local people and a great credit to the Town Council. The main entry is through handsome gates which form the town's main war memorial. Inside is an area of colourful flower beds surrounded by what has become a significant collection of other war memorials. These include a life size bronze statue of war poet Wilfred Owen unveiled in October 2018. Owen was born in the Welsh border town in 1893. Also to be seen are memorials to 'Gunners' from the Royal Regiment of Artillery, especially those who passed through nearby Park Hall Camp until its closure in 1975 and another funded by members of the Infantry Boys and Junior Leaders Association. The Unit - based at Park Hall - took boys aged 14 to 16 and trained them for leadership roles within the British Regimental System.

Cae Glas Park gates

Undoubtedly my favourite memorial in Cae Glas Park however is tucked away in a corner just inside the gates. There, set in a stone pillar, is an exquisite statuette of a robed female with arms outstretched and looking heavenwards. A plaque below states that it was erected “to perpetuate the memory of the men of the Cambrian Railways whose names are here recorded and who gave their lives for their King and Country in the Great War 1914-1918”. The names of 53 railway employees are listed. Oswestry’s railway station having closed in to passenger traffic in 1966 and freight in 1971, the memorial was moved to the Park by the Town Council in 1975. The memorial is by Allan G Wyon (1882-1962), a sculptor and medallist of some renown. He trained and later exhibited at the Royal Academy and was responsible for noted works in Hereford, Truro and Salisbury Cathedrals as well as the statue of St Michael in the County war memorial in The Quarry at Shrewsbury. In later life he studied for Holy Orders and was vicar of Newlyn from 1936 to his retirement in 1955.

This beautiful memorial is a great credit to him as well as to those within the Cambrian Railways who chose to make such effective use of his work.

A musical memorial

The most famous and iconic war memorial in Britain is undoubtedly The Cenotaph in London. It was designed by one of the leading architects of the 20th century, Edwin Lutyens. Unveiled in 1919 as a temporary structure of wood and plaster, it made such a powerful impact that it was soon re-built permanently in stone. When, in the aftermath of the First World War, the people of Newtown (Y Drenewydd) came to decide what kind of memorial to the fallen they wanted, they opted for a replica of the original Cenotaph. It is scaled-down, but to my mind loses none of the grandeur of the original.

Unusually, after the Second World War, Newtown’s residents began to consider a new form of memorial to add to the Cenotaph. They were long and at times tortuous discussions. Many proposals were put forward, including a swimming baths, sports ground and memorial hall but a decision eluded the authorities until 1952, seven years after the end of the War. By then, the Park surrounding Newtown Hall had passed into public ownership and it was decided to adorn it with new Park Gates and a bandstand. The latter however was not a great success.

Newtown's memorial bandstand

The intention was that Newtown Silver Band would give recitals in the Park. Unfortunately they did not prove as popular as expected and on one sad occasion in 1955 the Band played to an audience of only two. Adding to the problems, the bandstand turned out to be too small to house the whole Band of 25-30 players. Slowly it fell into disuse and disrepair and finally in 1985 it was demolished. All that remains today is the slowly deteriorating concrete base. The decorative gates however have survived and still form a beautiful and appropriate memorial.

    

Newtown Park Gates

An unusual design and an interesting debate

 The main war memorial in the town of Bridgnorth in east Shropshire stands at one of the highest in the town in Castle Park. It is a 7’6” statue of a soldier with his rifle and fixed bayonet on his back, wearing a tin hat, carrying his equipment and with his right arm thrust forward and upward. It stands on a stepped plinth and base of local Alveley stone, around which are listed (unusually, in order of rank) those from the town who fell in the two world wars. 

The statue is the work and design of Captain Adrian Jones MVD RBS, a well- known Shropshire born sculptor and painter. The soldier’s stance is unusual in that he appears to be taking part in an act of military aggression rather than the more common one of mourning and, as a result, has been the subject of some debate and occasional controversy over the years. A common view is that he is pointing forward as he advances on the enemy at the head of his men (though another local story has it that, having just been demobbed, he is holding up his hand in an effort to stop the train leaving without him from the station below!). However the Programme for the unveiling ceremony on 9th March 1922 states clearly that the sculptor was “endeavouring to demonstrate the stupendous moral and military effort by the Empire … and what more fitting symbol than a realistic soldier hurling a bomb with all his energy and strength and thereby ‘doing his bit’ “. In his memoirs, Jones himself said that he had “designed it to pay tribute to the undaunted courage of a Shropshire lad”. A recent biography of Jones ('Triumph: The Life & Art of Captain Adrian Jones' by Robert S Burns) has re-opened the debate:  “The only possible credence for the bomb story is the soldier’s open palm, for nothing else in his pose suggests throwing. The front leg is not braced for effort; rather it appears simply to be taking a slightly uphill step forward. Plainly if a sculptor intends to depict a bomber, he must include a hand grenade or similar device. It is more probable that … [the] soldier is urging advance on the enemy hilltop position ahead”. The debate continues therefore and quite possibly may now never be resolved. Opinions would be welcome however!