Memorial

Prescot’s war memorial was the first permanent civic war memorial erected in the UK. The idea was first proposed in 1915 and the memorial - constructed of Aberdeen granite - was erected in September 1916. Sitting atop a tall column the figure is dressed in the uniform of the South Lancashire regiment. He carries a fixed bayonet, pointing in the direction of France.

I wonder if the belligerent pose reflects the fact that there were still two years of war to go. The full horror of those four years of the “Great War” was maybe not apparent in 1916, although the memorial was erected halfway through the battle of the Somme, when so many of the South Lancashire’s lost their lives.