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!                                                                                                                                                                                

Worth a Look

 I've recently discovered a Facebook page dedicated to 'war memorials and military graves in the UK'. Some regular fascinating posts and of course you can join if you want to put up your own photo's. I've contributed a couple so far and fully intend to post more. Have a look if you're interested, using the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/WarMemorialsUK/?multi_permalinks=1112889309145146%2C1112198662547544&notif_id=1605722533023141&notif_t=group_activity

Also, a reminder that my book 'Sites of Remembrance: the war memorials of Shropshire' is still available for only £14.95 inc free postage and packing. Drop me an email if you would like a copy or you can use the Paypal 'Buy Now' button here on the blog.

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A Rare Survival

Meifod is a village just north of Welshpool.  Its main memorial is an unusual one, consisting of a copper sheet set into the outside of the church wall. One of the names listed is that of Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, only son of the ‘Big House’ in Meifod. 

He left Eton College early to sign up during the fir wave of patriotic enthusiasm at the outbreak of the First World War. After a few weeks’ training, he was gazetted as a Second Lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards. He was killed at Ypres in October 1914 only three days after he had joined his regiment at the front, aged 18. He also has a memorial inside the church. The striking symbolic relief above its inscription incorporates two figures looking up at a cross. Attached to the wall next to it is a rare survival, a wooden battlefield cross with his name stamped on a small metal tab on it. Although over a century old now, these crosses seem to bring back the horrors of the battlefield with startling immediacy. During battles such as Ypres, men were killed by the thousand each day and were buried nearby in hastily created cemeteries with the graves often marked by these wooden crosses. Later, when the Red Cross’s Ambulance Unit (later to become the Imperial and then Commonwealth War Graves Commission) set about the huge task of identifying as many of the bodies as possible and re-interring them in the formal cemeteries we recognise so well today, the wooden crosses were offered to the families of the deceased. Some were buried in local churchyards, others – like that of Charles Williams Wynn – placed on display inside the church.

In her autobiographical work ‘Testament of Youth’, Vera Brittain described the emotions the arrival of the cross could generate: “It’s such a queer feeling to have it here, when it’s been above him all that time … I am sorry in a way that they have removed it … It’s a strange world – where the symbols of people count so much because they’re all one has left”.

Brecon remembers the Falklands War

Despite its long military connections, the small city of Brecon had no memorial to the Falkland Islands war. This was rectified however with the dedication of a memorial stone and bench on 30 September 2017 in Brecon Peace Gardens. The ceremony was well attended by veterans of the conflict and by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, the Mayor of Brecon and the MP for the constituency.  The new memorial commemorates the 255 British servicemen and three Falkland Islander civilians who lost their lives during the 1982 Falklands conflict. The memorial bench was unveiled by Mr J Blair of the Royal British Legion (Brecon Branch) and the stone by Mr Alan Huckle, former Governor of the Falkland Islands (2006-10) and chairman of the Falkland Islands Association. 

Unveiling of the Falklands memorial

The memorial stone came from a local Welsh quarry near Builth Wells and the plaque was handcrafted from Welsh slate. The whole project was led by Mrs Jules Hore, a 1982 veteran who served in the Queen Alexandra Nursing Corps, and her husband, Drew Hore, formerly of the 6th battalion Light Infantry. Funds were raised in part from the Falklands 35th anniversary ‘Ride of Respect’ in which some 600 motorcyclists rode from Brecon to Cardiff on 18 June 2017 carrying the wreath of metal poppies which was laid at a service attended by the First Minister of Wales.

Brecon has a strong connection to the 1982 Falklands conflict since the 5th Brigade, which included a battalion of the Welsh Guards and the Gurkha Rifles, centred its pre-combat training in the area. There is also a close connection with the Parachute Regiment and the SAS. Thirty-six Welsh men were killed in the Falklands in 1982, mainly from the Welsh Guards and the SAS. The Gurkhas lost one man. Overall, 777 British Service personnel

were wounded in action during the conflict and many in the Task Force have since suffered from post-traumatic stress disorders; according to records, some 250 Falklands veterans have since taken their own lives. The erection of these memorials helps to keep memories of their sacrifice alive.

ABERHAFESP REMEMBERS

Aberhafesp war memorial

 The village of Aberhafesp lies about midway between Caersws and Newtown, stretching out along each side of a busy country lane. Its church – dedicated to St Gwynnog – stands at the top of a gentle rise and in early Spring is surrounded by swathes of snowdrops. The village war memorial stands near the entrance gate and is of an unusual and elegant design. Standing beside it you can enjoy beautiful views of the rolling Mid-Wales hills.


Attached to its base is a modern looking slate plaque inscribed with nine names and a brief description of how they came to meet their death near the village. It says: “In memory of the R.A.F. (V.R.) airmen who died as a result of a crash at Glascoed Farm on 23^rd January 1944. The Handley Page Halifax Bomber No DG 358 of 116 Heavy Conversion Unit from Faldingworth was struck by lightning.” The men range in age from 18 to 31 and come from places as far apart as Islington and Aberdeen. The plaque was laid in place in 1995 to mark fifty years since the end of the Second World War.

The 1995 plaque

Faldingworth was an airfield near Lincoln and the Bomber was on a training flight having it seems turned and begun its journey home. The weather however was appalling with torrential rain and high winds making for the worst possible flying conditions. Exactly what happened will never now be known, but the official report spoke of a stormcloud, lightning strike and also mentioned engine failure. The resultant crash at Glascoed Farm left all nine crew members dead. Recent years have seen a book published about the accident to go alongside the slate plaque and a beautiful framed tribute inside the church as witness that the men have not been forgotten locally and live on very much in the village’s communal memory. Their names I think are worth recording here:

Halifax Bomber

                        Paul Bennett, Pilot

                        Albert Clark, Air Gunner

                        Norman Fisher, Bomb Aimer

                        ER Gawler, Flight Engineer

                        John Gibb, Flight Engineer

                        David Ramsey, Flight Engineer

                        John Spriggs, Navigator

                        William Wareham, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner

                        William Wyatt, Air Gunner

                       

Tragic death of Sister Roberts

Entrance to Tywyn Cottage Hospital

The main First World War memorial in Tywyn, a small seaside resort on Cardigan Bay, is a splendid Cottage Hospital built between 1920 and 1922 in the Arts and Crafts style. Despite the passage of time, it has firmly retained its original style and is fronted by a wonderful stone structure announcing its original purpose as a war memorial. At the other end of the town is St Cadfan's church, whose congregation decided to remember those who had lost their lives by erecting a new stone porch. Inside the porch is a series of plaques, one of which states, in the elegant phrasing typical of the time: "This Porch was erected by the Parishioners As a thanksoffering to Almighty God for The victorious peace vouchsafed to Great Britain and her Allies at the Termination of the Great War A.D. 1914 - 1919". Other plaques show the names of 30 soldiers and a Nursing Sister "Who Gave their lives for the honour of the Empire and the liberties of The World".

St Cadfan's church porch

The Nursing Sister, whose name is picked out and separated from the rest, is Sister Jane Roberts of the QAIMNSR (Queen Alexanda's Military Nursing Service Reserve) who died when the 'Salta' sank off Le Havre harbour on 10th April 1917. The story is a tragic one. The Salta had been built as a passenger ship of 7,200 tons in 1911. When war broke out, she was acquired by The Admiralty and converted for use as a hospital ship. The Salta was approaching Le Havre with a cargo of medical stores when she hit a drifting mine (later established to have been laid the previous day by a German submarine).An enormous explosion breached the hull near the engine room and she quickly listed to starboard and sank in less than 10 minutes. 

Sister Roberts

Despite help arriving rapidly, the state of the sea and the strong winds hampered the rescue operation and the human cost was appalling. Of 205 passengers and crew, 130 perished. Despite extensive searches, only 13 bodies were initially recovered. There are now 24 burials from the sinking of the Salta in Ste. Marie Cemetery, Le Havre, and also a memorial to those - including Sister Jane Roberts of Tywyn - whose bodies were never recovered.