There are thousands of war memorials in Britain. From simple stone tablets and plaques in chapels, through monuments of all shapes and sizes in town and country, to entire buildings including village halls and churches, even carvings on hillsides and dedicated tracts of land, they commemorate members of the armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice.
While most were erected after the two world wars, the conflicts that inspired these buildings of remembrance can date back many hundreds of years and, of course, include those which still rage on today. Some are internationally famous, others are shamefully neglected. Some remember civilian casualties, some denounce war and cry for peace, some even salute a courageous enemy. Whether bland or showy and whatever their artisic merit, all strive to honour bravery, to recognise loss, and to ensure the dead will be remembered. In my opinion few succeed so well as The Response, 1914.
This powerful and poignant monument stands in the Haymarket of my native Newcastle: a busy area that also features the strikingly modern Civic Centre, the older St Thomas’s Church, a landmark obelisk of Edwardian elegance to soldiers of the Boer War, and the northern openings of the main shopping streets. This location makes it unmissable for anyone in that part of town. I consider it to be the most moving of all war memorials since it depicts the drama – some might even say the horror – of ordinary people having to leave their homes for a fight that is not of their own making but from which there is no honourable escape.
Denne historien er fra November 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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Denne historien er fra November 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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THE FEW ON SCREEN
Steven Taylor looks at the Battle of Britain across film and TV
Table Service
Rachel Toy looks at the history of Ridgway Homemaker tableware
Hever Forever
Claire Saul studies the newly refurbished Boleyn Apartment at Hever Castle & Gardens - a castle fit for a queen
Shining a Light
Tony O’Neil tunes into the history of the last manned lightvessel
The Man With the Goldeneye
Film stills photographer Keith Hamshere describes how he came to enter the world of James Bond
THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS
lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles
To Play the Queen
Chris Hallam looks back on the life of one of the UK’s best known lookalikes
POOLING RESOURCES
Martin Handley looks at what life was like after the Vernons Girls
POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX
Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling
Oh, Miss Jones
Chris Hallam looks back at the origins and legacy of Rising Damp, ITV's most successful sitcom