Brussels Infantry Memorial…
The protection afforded by the spread wings of Victory
Impresses, whilst the stern, determined soldiers grimace
As they stand their ground and begin to edge tentatively forth.
And strain, yet intense formidability features on every face…
Eager dogs haul and drag handlers in the hunt for the foe,
Horses rear, with unblinkered fearful eyes testifying
To the horrors, the cacophony of carnage and shock,
The mud, the violence and the screams of the dying…
Pairs of sentinels stand guard at the base and near the pinnacle
Of the tall memorial tower, topped with a supreme crown of gold,
Reaching, rebuilding, renewing, remembering
The slaughtered Belgians who would never grow old…
But one face haunts me, hidden between a cowled, helmeted
Infantryman with a shouldered rifle and another with his collar upturned.
It is the face of just an ordinary fellow, a labourer perhaps
Conscripted to hell, terrorised and terrified, then to his civilian life curtly returned…
Pete Ray
22nd August 2025…
The memorial is large and superb.
The figures and the drama are remarkable and my words fail to do justice to such a fantastic presentation.
I was honoured to see it…
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