War memorial of Newcastle

War memorial of Newcastle

The historical context :

The war memorial of Newcastle, also called the Response, was built in 1923, in the county of Tyne and Wear, in England, by Burton, Kirkpatrick and Goscombe.

It commemorates the raising of the 16th Territorial Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers during the First World War, which nickname is ''Fifth of Foot''. The 16th was a Pals battalion, raised in Newcastle in September 1914. This battalion fought in the Battle of the Somme, in 1916.

England was involved in WW1 because of a military alliance with Russia and France. This «Triple Entente» (from the French expression) declared war to the Balkans.

At the beginning of the First World War, the English soldiers were only volunteers. A number of factors contributed to this decision, including patriotism, an eagerness for the adventure, and the work of the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee. In January 1916 the conscription was introduced, to have more soldiers, for single men and in May-June it was extended to all men who were 18 to 41 everywhere in United Kingdom except in Ireland. There were many volunteers in 1914 and in the early 1915, but this recruitment fell dramatically during 1915, hence this conscription.

In the XIXth century, there were many characters frequenting the downtown of Newcastle. They were people who had some disability (physical or mental) but who were liked, respected and looked after by Newcastle inhabitants. They were called «Worthies» or «Eccentrics», and there’s a painting for them called Hell’s Kitchen.

The memorial and its message:

This memorial is composed of bronze figures in high relief on a rusticated granite platform, with low reliefs on the reverse.

The angel, (Renown) is blowing her horn, her robes flowing as she moves with the wind, the drummer boys at the foreground are calm and careful, while the officers ranged behind them are looking staunchly forward.

Pressing on after them, among those already in uniform, several are seen making their last farewells. One of the men, the last on the right, is kissing a baby held up to him by his wife, who has a second child clinging to her skirts.

On the rear of the memorial there is a low relief carving St Georges (he's an important symbol in England, hence the cross of St Georges) in medieval military dress with a lance and a shield, standing on a pair of intertwined sea horses. He is flanked by two shields on which are depicted the city's coat of arms. On either side of him, there are two mains characters of the 17th and the 19th centuries, in 1674 and 1919 (these dates are carved on the memorial.

There are two Latin mottos on the Response:

-the first is «Non sibi sed patriae» and it means "Not for ourselves but for country.". This phrase was said by the Commandant of the US Navy, General Krulak, and it became one of the US Navy' mantra, it's also used a lot on WW1 memorials. It's carved on the front of the memorial, above the memorial's name.

-the second is «Quo fata vocant», which means ‘’Whither the fates call’’, is the Northumberland Battalion's

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