Bridgnorth’s War Memorial: The Ambiguous Use Of An Arm…
The infantryman, robust and firm-jawed,
Reminiscent of a recruitment poster’s ideal,
Leans forward from his glorious prominence
In the gardens of Bridgnorth’s Castle;
His rifle is shouldered, his battledress is unflawed
And his aggression highlights his appeal,
His thrusting right arm’s significance
Ambiguous though, as he lunges into battle…
The infantryman, rugged and steely-eyed,
Omnipotent for propaganda’s glow,
Reaches out from the incongruous height
On the fringes of Bridgnorth’s upper town;
Tardy perhaps, his excitement amplified,
He hails the embarkation train below,
En route to where the Shropshires fight,
Entrenched in horror upon death-strewn ground…
Pete Ray
August 2020
This superb figure, said to be throwing a hand-bomb, is positioned in the ruined castle’s gardens in Bridgnorth and is some sight…
Oddly, below in the lower town, trains await passengers for their steam train trips on the Severn Valley railway and it almost looks like the infantryman is late for his military embarkation train and is hailing it to wait for him, in his eagerness to get to the Front…
The figure does remind me of American enlistment posters, for the guy looks a real athlete and well fed.
Compare this figure with that of the one in Lye, not many miles away…
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