Anglo-Belgian Memorial, Brussels

Last updated

Anglo-Belgian Memorial
  • Monument aux Soldats Britanniques (French)
  • Monument voor de Britse Soldaat (Dutch)
Brussels, Belgium
Brussel, Poelaertplein-PM 57659.jpg
For the Belgian People who helped British soldiers in World War I
Unveiled1923 (1923)
Location 50°50′15″N4°21′13″E / 50.837611°N 4.353501°E / 50.837611; 4.353501
Place Poelaert / Poelaertplein
1000 City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger

The Anglo-Belgian War Memorial (French : Monument aux Soldats Britanniques; Dutch : Monument voor de Britse Soldaat) is a monument in Brussels, Belgium, which was commissioned by the British Imperial War Graves Commission and designed by the British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger. Unveiled in 1923 by the Prince of Wales, it commemorates the support given by the Belgian People to British prisoners of war during the First World War. [1] It is located on the Place Poelaert/Poelaertplein near Brussels' Palace of Justice and the Belgian Infantry Memorial. [2]

Contents

The monument depicts a British and a Belgian soldier carved from Brainvilliers stone. Around the sides are reliefs showing Belgian peasants assisting wounded British soldiers. Casts of the reliefs are held at the Imperial War Museum in London, and a plaster cast of the Belgian soldier is held in the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces in Brussels . [3]

Other memorials

Another Anglo-Belgian War Memorial stands on the Victoria Embankment in London. Completed in 1920, it is the work of the British architect Sir Reginald Blomfield and the Belgian sculptor Victor Rousseau. [4] [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Brussels</span> Municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region and capital of Belgium

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Flemish Region and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.

The Parc du Cinquantenaire or Jubelpark is a large public, urban park of 30 ha in the easternmost part of the European Quarter in Brussels, Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Artillery Memorial</span> War memorial on Hyde Park Corner, London

The Royal Artillery Memorial is a First World War memorial located on Hyde Park Corner in London, England. Designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger, with architectural work by Lionel Pearson, and unveiled in 1925, the memorial commemorates the 49,076 soldiers from the Royal Artillery killed in the First World War. The static nature of the conflict, particularly on the Western Front, meant that artillery played a major role in the war, though physical reminders of the fighting were often avoided in the years after the war. The Royal Artillery War Commemoration Fund (RAWCF) was formed in 1918 to preside over the regiment's commemorations, aware of some dissatisfaction with memorials to previous wars. The RAWCF approached several eminent architects but its insistence on a visual representation of artillery meant that none was able to produce a satisfactory design. Thus they approached Jagger, himself an ex-soldier who had been wounded in the war. Jagger produced a design which was accepted in 1922, though he modified it several times before construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palace of Justice, Brussels</span> Court building in Brussels, Belgium

The Palace of Justice of Brussels or Law Courts of Brussels is a courthouse in Brussels, Belgium. It is the country's most important court building, seat of the judicial arrondissement of Brussels, as well as of several courts and tribunals, including the Court of Cassation, the Court of Assizes, the Court of Appeal of Brussels, the Tribunal of First Instance of Brussels, and the Bar Association of Brussels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Frampton</span> British sculptor (1860-1928)

Sir George James Frampton, was a British sculptor. He was a leading member of the New Sculpture movement in his early career when he created sculptures with elements of Art Nouveau and Symbolism, often combining various materials such as marble and bronze in a single piece. While his later works were more traditional in style, Frampton had a prolific career in which he created many notable public monuments, including several statues of Queen Victoria and later, after World War I, a number of war memorials. These included the Edith Cavell Memorial in London, which, along with the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens are possibly Frampton's best known works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Jones (sculptor)</span> English sculptor and painter

Alfred Adrian Jones was an English sculptor and painter who specialized in depicting animals, particularly horses. Before becoming a full-time artist he was an army veterinary surgeon for twenty-three years. On retirement from the British Army, Jones established himself as an artist with a studio in London. He became a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy and in commercial galleries from 1884 onwards. His training as a veterinary surgeon gave him a deep knowledge of equine anatomy which he used in his work to great effect. He created the sculpture Peace descending on the Quadriga of War, on top of the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner in London. Following both the Boer War and World War I, Jones created a number of notable war memorials including the Royal Marines Memorial and the Cavalry of the Empire Memorial, both in central London. Alongside the public monuments he created, Jones made equestrian and equine statuettes and portrait busts. Whilst well known as a sculptor, Jones was also an accomplished painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goscombe John</span> Welsh sculptor (1860–1952)

Sir William Goscombe John was a prolific Welsh sculptor known for his many public memorials. As a sculptor, John developed a distinctive style of his own while respecting classical traditions and forms of sculpture. He gained national attention with statues of eminent Victorians in London and Cardiff and subsequently, after both the Second Boer War and World War I, created a large number of war memorials. These included the two large group works, The Response 1914 in Newcastle upon Tyne and the Port Sunlight War Memorial which are considered the finest sculptural ensembles on any British monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Sargeant Jagger</span> English sculptor (1885–1934)

Charles Sargeant Jagger was a British sculptor who, following active service in the First World War, sculpted many works on the theme of war. He is best known for his war memorials, especially the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner and the Great Western Railway War Memorial in Paddington Railway Station. He also designed several other monuments around Britain and other parts of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Western Railway War Memorial</span> Railway company war memorial in London, England

The Great Western Railway War Memorial is a First World War memorial by Charles Sargeant Jagger and Thomas S. Tait. It stands on platform 1 at London Paddington station, commemorating the 2,500 employees of the Great Western Railway (GWR) who were killed in the conflict. One-third of the GWR's workforce of almost 80,000 left to fight in the First World War, the company guaranteeing their jobs, and the GWR gave over its workshops for munitions manufacturing as well as devoting its network to transporting soldiers and military equipment. The company considered several schemes for a war memorial before approaching Jagger to design a statue. Some officials continued to push for an alternate design, to the point that Jagger threatened to resign. Jagger was working on several other war memorial commissions at the same time as the GWR's, including his most famous, the Royal Artillery Memorial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congress Column</span> Monumental column in Brussels, Belgium

The Congress Column is a monumental column in Brussels, Belgium, commemorating the creation of the Belgian Constitution by the National Congress of 1830–31. Inspired by Trajan's Column in Rome, it was erected between 1850 and 1859, on the initiative of the then-Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Rogier, according to a design by the architect Joseph Poelaert. At the top of the column is a statue of Belgium's first monarch; King Leopold I, and at its base, the pedestal is surrounded by statues personifying the four freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution. The Belgian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame lies at its foot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kemmelberg</span>

The Kemmelberg is a hill formation in Flanders, Belgium. It is located less than a kilometer from the village of Kemmel, part of the municipality of Heuvelland in the province of West Flanders. The Kemmelberg is the highest point in the province with an altitude of 154 metres (505 ft), this is the geodetic point with mark Ch63.1, as measured by the National Geographical Institute (NGI) in Brussels in October 1951 via optical levelling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Pelham, Lord Worsley</span> British Army officer

Charles Sackville Pelham, Lord Worsley was a British soldier. He was the son of Charles Pelham, 4th Earl of Yarborough and Marcia Pelham, Countess of Yarborough. On 31 January 1911, Lord Worsley married Alexandra Mary Freesia Vivian, daughter of Hussey Vivian, 3rd Baron Vivian and the former Louisa Alice Duff, and sister-in-law of General Haig. Worsley was killed in action during the First World War, aged 27.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belgian Infantry Memorial, Brussels</span> Monument in Brussels, Belgium

The Belgian Infantry Memorial is a monument in Brussels, Belgium, which stands in memory of the Belgian foot soldiers who fought in World War I and World War II. Designed by Edouard Vereycken, the memorial stands in front of Brussels' Palace of Justice and across the Place Poelaert/Poelaertplein from the Anglo-Belgian War Memorial. The memorial rests on a raised platform that overlooks Brussels' city centre. Translated into English, the inscription reads: "To the infantrymen who died for their country".

The Monuments aux Morts of the Eastern Somme are French war memorials commemorating those who died in World War I on the eastern side of the Somme region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport Memorial</span>

The British Nieuport Memorial is a First World War memorial, located in the Belgian port city of Nieuwpoort, which is at the mouth of the River Yser. The memorial lists 547 names of British officers and men with no known grave who were killed in the Siege of Antwerp in 1914 or in the defence of this part of the Western Front from June to November 1917. Those that fought in 1914 were members of the Royal Naval Division. The fighting in 1917, when XV Corps defended the line from Sint-Joris to the sea, included the German use of chemical weapons such as mustard gas and Blue Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Rousseau</span> Belgian sculptor and medallist (1865–1954)

Victor Rousseau also known as M. Victor Rousseau, was a Belgian sculptor and medalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Belgian Memorial, London</span> War memorial in London

The Anglo-Belgian Memorial, also known as the Belgian Gratitude Memorial, Belgian Refugees Memorial, or the Belgian Monument to the British Nation, is a war memorial on Victoria Embankment in London, opposite Cleopatra's Needle. It was a gift from Belgium, as a mark of thanks for assistance given by the UK during the First World War, and in particular for sheltering thousands of Belgian refugees who fled from the war. It is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portsmouth War Memorial</span> Memorial in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

The City of Portsmouth War Memorial, also referred to as the Guildhall Square War Memorial, is a First World War memorial in Guildhall Square in the centre of Portsmouth, Hampshire, on the south coast of England. Portsmouth was and remains a port and home to a major naval dockyard. The dockyard and the armed forces provided much of the employment in the area in the early 20th century. As such, the town suffered significant losses in the First World War. Planning for a war memorial began shortly after the end of the conflict and a committee was established for the purpose. It selected a site adjacent to a railway embankment close to the Town Hall and chose the architects James Gibson and Walter Gordon, with sculptural elements by Charles Sargeant Jagger, from an open competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monument to the Belgian Pioneers in Congo</span> Monument in Brussels, Belgium

The Monument to the Belgian Pioneers in Congo is an allegorical monument in the Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark in Brussels, Belgium. It was designed by the sculptor Thomas Vinçotte and crafted between 1911 and 1921 to commemorate the Congo Free State. In particular, it honours the Belgian 'pioneers' (soldiers) who brought 'civilisation' to the Congo, especially through the Congo–Arab War (1892–1894) that sought to conquer present-day East Congo and end the Arab slave trade there.

References

Citations

  1. "Agreement between The Commissioners of H M Works and Public Buildings and Mr Charles Sargeant Jagger for the erection of a Statue..." National Archives. 21 September 1922. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
  2. "Monument aux Soldats Britanniques – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural". monument.heritage.brussels (in French). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  3. "Charles Sargeant Jagger. Sculptor (1885–1934)". National Archives. 3 July 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. "Belgian Monument to the British Nation". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  5. "Remembering the Fallen: Six London WWI Memorials". English Heritage. Retrieved 19 December 2023.

Bibliography