Hiding In The Park…
(Battersea’s WW1 memorial, East Surrey Infantry…)
Seeking the memorial in Battersea Park, only one of several policemen could pledge
Instructions as to its whereabouts, albeit it was rather tucked neatly away
In a grassy area, virtually hidden behind modern amenities,
Such as padel courts, tennis courts and available parking for visitors
To the Chelsea Flower Show. Even the high-vis jacketed parking attendants could offer no direction…
Once found, the 1924 sculpture in Portland stone, enclosed within a circular green hedge,
Gleamed pallid and ghostly, almost as if new, bar a few words of graffiti, scribbled awry
Upon the base. Three infantrymen stood in full uniform with a serpent coiled for eternity
At their boots, as if vanquished like a foe around their puttees, their remorse
Pondered for some ten thousand dead of the 24th Division, as sullen eyes stared in personal reflection…
Pete Ray…
23rd May 2026…
It is interesting that the designer and sculptor, Eric Kennington RA modelled one of the three figures on the poet and writer Robert Graves, well known for his war memoir, ‘Goodbye To All That’…
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