OFFICERS AND MEN' —A SUBJECT FOR A WAR MEMORIAL PLAQUE.
[To THE EDITOR 07 THE " SPECTATOR.") Sin,—This war-story, which has just reached me in a letter from a private in the Household Battalion who is now in hospital, may perhaps interest your readers as a yet further instance of the splendid unselfishness and care which officers show towards their men. The writer says :— " We went for our last march. Never shall I forget ft; it was the longest and most cruel march I ever experienced. I was near the head of the column, trying my best to cheer the faint and help the lame, and eventually overtaxed my strength and fell in a faint. I was brought round and refused to give in. So the Captain carried my rifle, and I blindly stumbled along, using his walking-stick. An hour later the Colonel rode from the lines to meet us, and the Captain pointed me out and told him of my stubbornness. Instead of being rebuked, which I
expected, the Colonel dismounted and told two men to lift me on to his horse, so I, a common infantryman, rode into the fight, while my Colonel walked."
Surely the Army, officers and men, are the splendid pride of this great nation, and Our hearts thrill as we read such examples of courage and selflessness.—I am, Sir, &c., CECIL G. C. WALKER, Vicar of Weedon, Northants, and Acting C.F. The Vicarage, Weedon, Northants.
[Here is a subject for a plaster battle plaque of the kind displayed in the Exhibition of War Memorial Designs, &c., pro- moted by the Civic Arts Association, and noticed by us last July. The horse always ennobles bas-relief; he is of the right shape and proportions for projection. He would in this case lend distinction to the fainting soldier. The outline of the trench and parapet in the background would dignify the whole conception. We remember a blue Wedgwood bas-relief by Flagman in which the walls of Troy perform this function for a design of the Trojan War in which a pair of splendid horses are the main figures. We wish that Miss Muriel Perrin, the author of a very successful equine plaque in the Civic Arts Exhibition, would try her hand at a cottage ornament plaque on the lines suggested above.—ED. Spectator.]
Previous page
