The Sentry…
The sculptor’s military expression
Is one of resignation,
A requisite of guard duty.
His face displays no aggression
In its grim concentration,
That of a standing, suffering sentry…
The infantryman’s huddled depression
Reveals a stolid determination,
Beneath a roomy helmet and tethered cape.
Puttees are protected from rain’s oppression,
Knuckles tight on rifle in anticipation,
His sunken eyes staring agape…
Pete Ray
28th September 2022
The figure stands near the old Royal Worcestershire Regimental HQ, in what is now an estate of modern housing in Norton, near Worcester.
It represents an ordinary soldier from World War I a sentry on guard duty.
Charles Sargeant Jagger (1885-1934) was a sculptor who joined the Artists’ Rifles, leaving a scholarship in Rome to take part in the war. He moved on to the 4th, then the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment, becoming a temporary lieutenant during that time.
He was wounded in 1918 at Neuve-Église but was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
He would go on to produce several memorials after the Great War, including the one celebrating the Royal Artillery on Hyde Park Corner in London.
He also created a sculpture called ‘The Sentry’.
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| THE ORIGINAL STATURE BY CHARLES SARGEANT JAGGER... |
The new memorial is an interpretation of Jagger’s original by John McKenna…
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