Brockenhurst War Memorial

Nestled in the New Forest, Brockenhurst as a touching war memorial. The village first erected a temporary shrine for their war dead. When the campaign to build stone war memorials gathered pace, this was replaced by an obelisk in 1921. 

Meanwhile, a large house in the area had been commandeered for use as a war hospital for the Indian troops of the Lahore and Meerut Divisions. In 1916 it was moved to care for New Zealand troops. 

Writing a few years after the First World War in 1923, Lt-Col Myers of the New Zealand Medical Corps described “the delight [patients] exhibited when they found that they were in a hospital which bore the name of their own country, was officered and run by New Zealanders, and above all else, had a New Zealed “atmosphere” permeating its wards and surroundings… The delight of our lads in meeting their old friends in New Zealand hospitals was always evident”.

The hospital consisted of a main tented and hutted section, known as “Tin Town”, together minor medical sections at Balmer Lawn and Forest Park and several auxiliary hospitals in and around Brockenhurst.

Over 21,000 (predominantly) New Zealand casualties were treated at No.1 New Zealand General Hospital between 1916 and its closure at the end of January 1919.  

Sadly all too many of the Indians and Kiwis succumbed to their wounds and were buried in the churchyard, so many thousands of miles from home. There are now 93 New Zealand graves and 6 Indian. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains the gravestones and has erected a large stone cross to mark the site. 

The Defence Dog Memorial at Melton Mowbray

 

Commissioned in 2014 from the artist Loyd LeBlanc, the Defence Dogs Memorial stands outside the offices of the Melton Borough Council in Burton Street, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The memorial consists of a German shepherd dog, a springer spaniel and a Labrador retriever. The memorial recognizes the courage and partnership of military dogs and their handlers, trained at at the nearby Defence Animal Centre since 1946. Two of the dogs trained here have been awarded the PDSA Dicken Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty while serving. It is considered to be the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.

The project was made possible through contributions of Melton Council, Leicestershire County Council and fundraising of the Defence Animal Centre personnel.

Learn more about the Defence Animal Centre here: https://www.army.mod.uk/news/behind-the-scenes-at-the-defence-animal-training-regiment/

Thurnby Lodge War Memorial

In November 2021 a new war memorial was unveiled on the green at Thurnby Lodge. The monument was revealed in Willowbrook Park after local city councillors & residents worked together to bring the idea to fruition.

Cllr Aldred and local resident Chris Hopewell  fundraised thousands of pounds towards the memorial. The unveiling was attended by around 300 people including the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Deepak Bajaj, Lady Cadets, local clergyman the Reverend Paul Savage and bagpiper Tommy Lierd. Benches and other features were added later. 

Weymouth War Memorial

 

Unveiled on 06th November 1921 in front of a huge crowd led by local clergy and civic dignitaries, Weymouth war memorial s located at the northern end of The Esplanade at the junction with Brunswick Terrace., The Esplanade (B3155), Weymouth, Weymouth And Portland, Dorset, DT4 7NG. It was designed by local sculptor  Francis W Doyle Jones from Portland stone with bronze plaques. Plaques to remember the fallen of the Second World War were added on 8th May 1949.

It is now in the care of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, which recently replaced some of the more corroded plaques.

 

War Memorial - Great Ponton, Lincs

Unveiled on 10 June 1920 Great Ponton war memorial consists of a square obelisk of Cornish granite on a plinth of the same material. Engraving of a laurel wreath on the lower part of the obelisk above the years of the First World War. All lettering is leaded and on the front face of the monument. The main dedication and WW1 names are on the plinth while WW2 names on the front face of the base. It stands on concrete foundations.

 

Great Ponton is an English village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, 3 miles (5 km) south of Grantham on the A1 trunk road, which bisects the village. The tower of the parish church is a roadside landmark. The 2001 census recorded a population of 333, of whom all were of white ethnic origin and 87 per cent described themselves as Christian. The average age was 40. The population of the civil parish had risen to 379 at the 2011 census. It was estimated at 369 in 2019.

Among the graves here are 

PRIVATE FRED GIBSON MUSSON 

Service Number: 40831

Regiment & Unit/Ship

Manchester Regiment

4th Bn.

Date of Death

Died 18 November 1918

Age 21 years old

Son of Mrs Musson of Great Ponton

 

And of

SERJEANT RICHARD LAMB 

Service Number: 4802687

Regiment & Unit/Ship

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Date of Death

Died 28 November 1942

Age 36 years old

He was the son of Joseph and Sarah Lamb. He left a widow,  Mary Mabel Short Lamb, of Eyemouth, Berwickshire. He died at Grantham, Lincs

 

Long Clawson War Memorial, Leicestershire

 

The war memorial at Long Clawson in Leicestershire – best know these days for the dairy producing Stilton Cheese, can be found at Back lane LE14 4PA. It commemorates those from the village who were killed in not just the First and Second World Wars, but also the conflict in Aden [1963-67]. The memorial is unusual in that it was erected in 2016. Prior to that date the village had remembered its war dead with a Roll of Honour mounted on a wall inside St Remigius Church on Church Lane. The Roll of Honour is still there, listing the 157 who served in the First World War.

 

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War Memorial - Black Watch Corner

 War Memorial - Black Watch Corner

Near Zonnebeke in Belgium

 

In 2014, a statue of a Black Watch [officially the 42^nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foot] soldier was unveiled in Belgium to mark the centenary of the battle that took place here in November 1914. The bronze statue, designed by Edinburgh sculptor Alan Herriot, was installed in front of 300 regimental veterans at Black Watch Corner.

The official regimental history recorded:

Between 6.30 am and 9 am on 11 November, the heaviest bombardment so far experienced by the British forces broke out; as it lifted, a Division of the Prussian Guard, ordered by the Kaiser to break the British line at all costs, attacked the front. Under cover of the bombardment, a strong enemy force drove back D Company and the two platoons of A Company entrenched at the south west corner of Polygon Wood. C Company under the command of Lieutenant Anderson and in a strong point (point d’appui) 380 yards from the south and west corner of Polygon Wood held out firmly. This split the attack into small parties of 20–30 Prussians, many of whom were soon lost in the woods behind. As they emerged from the back of the woods the guns of 41 Brigade Royal Field Artillery, sited one thousands yards west of Nonne Bosschen Wood, opened direct fire on the enemy at a range of 300–400 yards.

The effect was devastating and the German attack faltered. At 3 pm a counter attack by the 2nd Battalion The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, supported by the Royal Field Artillery, destroyed the remnants of the Prussian Guard and the line between the Menin Road and Polygon Wood was re-established. At 3.30 pm three Companies of the 1st Battalion The Northamptonshire Regiment, supported by parties of The Black Watch and Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, advanced from Nonne Bosschen Wood to retake the south west corner of Polygon Wood. This corner was known on all later maps as Black Watch Corner.  Originally, however, it was the C Company “strong point” south west of Polygon Wood which was given that name.

On 12 November 1914, the day after the battle, the strength of the 1st Battalion The Black Watch had been reduced to 2 officers and 109 soldiers; the 1st Battalion Scots Guards to 1 officer and 69 soldiers and the 1st Battalion The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders to 2 officers and 140 soldiers.