Worcester Memorial...
Crouching, portrayed as gallant in war,
Puttees wrapped tight above polished boots,
He fires a round at the insistent Boer,
Stubbornly resistant as he shoots…
No helmet, his jerkin open at the neck
Suggests a last defensive stand,
Yet the rifleman’s grim, glaring expression
And his hard-set jaw render an impression
Of contempt for the enemy
In conditions alien and raw…
The memorial symbolises the wastefulness
And the horror of the South African War:
Death in action, death from wounds or death from sickness
On the veldt of the insurgent guerrilla Boer…
Pete Ray
June 2019
Positioned now outside Worcester Cathedral, the bronze memorial was unveiled on 23rd September 1908, apparently to recall 71 Worcester men who all died in the Boer War (1899-1902).
The winged immortality figure above the dishevelled soldier holds a palm branch, a sheathed sword and a laurel wreath…
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