Wervik War Memorial

Well, well, well. 

Now, I recognise this figure.  He stood hereabouts for a long time until eight or nine years ago, and back then I showed you a few photos of him as we took a small trip along the River Lys from Comines to Menen (it’s a short, very early, BigNote trip, and is still available here), which I shall reproduce here once again:

And then, one day, he was gone.  In fact the whole memorial had gone, and apart from an update from Baldrick in August 2014 suggesting that it had been put in storage until after the new Wervik bridge had been built, we heard no more.

Until 2019 when, with the new bridge indeed up and running, as you will know if you accompanied me to Wervicq-Sud German Military Cemetery recently, he reappeared.

Now whether this ‘new’ memorial is to your liking, or mine, is frankly immaterial, because the important thing is that the figure and the names are once more on public view,…

…and as I often say, every name you read is a man, or woman, remembered.  Here’s a spin around the memorial.

Anyway, I am very pleased he is back, in whatever form.

Wartime aerial photograph of Wervik, with the much smaller Wervicq-Sud south of the river, the current sites of the two war memorials that we have visited over the last two posts marked.  Interestingly, if you check out Google maps, you will see the corrugated roofs pictured above, right next to Wervicq-Sud war memorial, still in evidence to this day.  Which ends our look around Wervik, Wervicq-Sud & Bousbeque, and means we shall be heading for pastures new next time.

This entry was posted in Along the River Lys: Comines, Wervik, Geluwe & Menen, Belgian War Memorials, Wervik & Wervicq-Sud. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Wervik War Memorial

  1. Daisy in Indonesia says:

    A wonderful sculptor… showing all the futility of war. Looks to be in a good place to me!
    As usual some surnames the same… meaning families torn apart.
    Love your work,
    Daisy.

    • Magicfingers says:

      Thanks mate. The figure is not actually my favourite from a sculptural point of view, but he’s dear to me as in the early years of my Flanders adventures I saw him most days, and then he was gone, for years, and I much prefer it now he’s back.

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