Death has undone so many

Yet again, Armistice Day is upon us - the day to remember the servicemen and women killed in the world wars.
It's always sobering, and quite shocking, to walk into churches in villages deep in the countryside and see the record of how many of their young people were killed in WW1 - often a huge percentage of the village's population at the time. This memorial at Yoxall is no exception.
As TS Eliot's poem says: "I had not thought death had undone so many".

Peace undermined

With Armistice Day this week, one looks to war memorials.   This statue of Peace (with dove in hand) stands on one side of the war memorial in Burton. 
As is usual - but extremely odd to modern eyes - this female classical figure seems to be wearing a tight body-stocking under her voluminous cloak and helmet.  One wonders what the point of that is...

Her message of peace is also rather undermined by a huge figure of Victory which stands on the top of the plinth, towering well above her (see a photo of the whole memorial by clicking here).
Oh well.

Tommy turned round

This 'Tommy' soldier from World War One is facing in completely the opposite direction to when he was first put up on this structure, the Borough War Memorial in Stafford.  He used to face the railway station - but when the law courts were built in the way, he was turned around, and now faces St Mary's, the town's large parish church.
One wonders why he was built facing the station, and not the church, originally.  It could be that the huge County War Memorial is by the station; was he meant to be saluting that?

The story comes from the fascinating booklet Researching Memorials by Staffordshire Archives.

Occupy! ... to save war memorial

Heritage issues can, and do, cause emotions to get to boiling point - much to some people's surprise.

The case of the War Memorial inside the old Fenton Town Hall is just such a case.  For over a year, local feelings have seethed.  The town-hall building (in which the memorial is installed) has been sold off by the government to a business; but local people are unhappy that 'their' war memorial - which cannot be moved for fear it would break up - will be cut off from them, away inside a private building.

Anyway, it all came to a head this Remembrance weekend - and thirty local residents have 'occupied' the site, and are holding out against the police even now.
What will happen next?

See: Protesters inside Fenton hall (BBC News) / Protesters claim Magna Carta rights (Staffs Live News) / Save Our Memorial group (Facebook) / Fenton Memorial Human Chain (YouTube)

Memorial gardens' skateboarder

The community mural at the Tunstall Memorial Gardens is a little chipped and faded now, but still has a charm.  I particularly like the blue skateboarder pictured at the base of Tunstall's famous clock tower.

The poppies and wooden crosses remind the viewer that the mural forms part of the town's war memorial space.

Women in WW1

The commemorations for the 100th anniversary of World War One went with some dignity I thought, which was good to see.  The ceremonies that I saw remembered those who died quietly and solemnly.

One interesting 21st Century element in these remembrances was the determination not to forget the part played by women in the conflict. 
In some cases of course, as in this memorial piece of 1920s stained-glass in Gnosall Church, women (nurses) were already properly remembered, as well as the male sailors, soldiers and airmen.

Memorial weekend

People are remembering the 100th anniversary of the First World War this weekend. 

One of the most successful aspects of all the community-work being done to remember the conflict is that of trying to find all the country's war memorials, clean them up, and, in many cases, try to discover more about the men and women whose names are actually on the memorials.
It has not been easy to identify these dead just by their names, as collective memories have faded, and some official records are even missing - yet communities have been making concerted efforts to find out who these people were who left their villages and towns never to return alive.

Kinver War Memorial is an odd one. It is out on the heath, far from any residences, and one wonders why it was put there.  But I am sure the local community groups are researching the names on it too.

War memorial over the door

World War One is the theme of much media interest at the moment, as its 100th anniversary comes up soon.  A lot of history groups are researching their own war-memorials; and I was surprised to learn from one of them that this installation over the main doorway at Marchington Church is in fact the village's war memorial.  It features Saint Michael.

This cleared up a matter which had puzzled me for a while. Why was Saint Michael figured so prominently on the front of a church dedicated to Saint Peter?    Now I know.

Peace subdues passions in Staffordshire

The War Memorial in Stafford is pretty tall, and this sculpture is high up, on a huge plinth. It must be the height of the Trafalgar Square plinths, if not higher.
That's a shame really, as this sculpture group at the top is pretty magnificent - and it would be good if one could see it better.
One might understand the theme a bit better too - as she is supposed to be Peace subduing war-like passions (as symbolised by the horse). Hmm. Doesn't look like that from the ground...

It is Remembrance Day today, so as the premier war memorial in the county, it will be at the centre of a ceremony today.  It is officially titled not the Stafford War Memorial, but the Staffordshire County War Memorial.
The sad story behind it is that the Earl of Dartmouth unveiled the work originally - and his own son was on the roll of the dead commemorated by the memorial. That must have been tough.

No body - no tomb

Less than a month after being 'adopted' by the people of Stafford during World war Two, the submarine Perseus was sunk off Cephalonia (later famous as the site of the book Captain Corelli's Mandolin). Only one man survived - the rest perished with the vessel, which was not re-discovered until divers found it in 1997.

This tribute to the crew can be found in the churchyard of St Mary, Stafford's parish church. Though it looks like a flat tombstone, and is placed alongside tombstones, it is better described as a memorial - because no one is interred there.

This post has been featured on Taphophile Tragics (the cemetery-enthusiasts' website)   

War isn't like this

I'm afraid I get quite angry when I see war memorials like this (this one is in St Chad's, Lichfield). They are quite common in English churches and graveyards.
The point is that they show a knight in shining armour - a figure that is an exemplar of a soldier's great virtues - nobility, honour, chivalry, courage.  Of course, the knight is sometimes Saint George, the patron of England, but not always.

But what makes me so aggravated (and gloomy) about such memorials is that the Great War wasn't some medieval jousting tournament where men fought with the colours of their ladies tied to their armour. As we know the First World War was much messier.
To my mind, these knightly figures are not just a glorification of war, but a lie. Yes, they were supposed to comfort the bereaved families, but...honestly...!

More honest memorials started to come in the 1920s, usually showing a 'Tommy' in khaki uniform; and the knight-figure had all but disappeared by the time of the Second World War. During that war, conflict came home of course, with all the terrible bombing raids - and these sorts of 'chivalric' myths just wouldn't wash any more.

This post has been featured on Taphophile Tragics (the cemetery-enthusiasts' website)  

Memorial to a slaughter

War memorials very often take the form of a statue of a ‘Tommy Atkins’ soldier from the First World war, just like this one in the centre of Biddulph (in north Staffordshire). 

The slaughter of the 1914-18 conflict is highlighted by the fact that double the amount of names are recorded for the First World War on this monument as for the Second.

Wreath remembers Victoria Cross man

Already it is the 11th November again - Armistice Day.  A day for two minutes silence at 11am.

A lot of remembrance wreaths have already been placed, including this one in Blythe Bridge. Somehow, it's very special, as Number 350 is just a very ordinary and quite small terraced house, yet the owner seems proud to have the plaque attached to the front wall, and to allow the wreath to be placed there at this time of year.

Sergeant Ernest Egerton was lucky to have survived his brave actions. Most holders of the Victoria Cross either die in the action or of wounds incurred.

Link: Egerton VC

Memorials of war

There are war memorials all over Staffordshire. Even just as simple records of names, they tell the saddest story. In one rural village I know, a simple board in the church records the deaths of fifty men in the Great War - which must have been a huge loss to that small comunity.

The one in the photo, in Hanley, is one of the largest in the county, yet I would guess most office-workers would walk past it not noticing it, simply because it is one of those permanent features that we all, after time, ignore. But, nevertheless, they shouldn't be moved out of town centres, or pulled down, just because we largely disregard them. War memorials, like old churches (and pubs!), are one of the few ways we all maintain our common, continuous history.