A view of the dedication of Stockton War Memorial by the Lord Bishop of Durham, Herbert Hensley Henson, during the Unveiling Ceremony, 31st May 1923.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A view of the dedication of Stockton War Memorial by the Lord Bishop of Durham, Herbert Hensley Henson, during the Unveiling Ceremony, 31st May 1923.
One must ask why on earth did we ever go to War, simply because no good whatsoever came out of it, Britain entered WW1 the richest nation in the world, we hocked everything to buy arms and weapons from America. World War 1, 1914-1918, was totally avoidable, and just look at the loss in human life and upheaval. To make matters worse, if that was possible, a very famous English General, Field Marshall Haig remarked after hearing that we had lost 10 000 men before 10.00am on the opening day of The Battle Of The Somme, France, “That wil let the Germans know we mean business.” In my opinion, he should have been taken outside and shot for his indifference to his mens welfare and deaths. Haig must in hindsight bore some of the blame for the death of so many fine British soldiers (60,000 casualties and 30,000 deaths on the first day of the battle) The forces under his command sustained an estimated 420,000 casualties while pushing the German front line back 12 km (7.5 mi). Haig’s tactics in these battles were considered controversial by many, including the then Secretary of State for War Lloyd George, who felt that he incurred unnecessarily large casualties for no gain.
Judging by the series of photographs available in the Picture Stockton archive of this iconic event, there must have been a whole team of photographers, complete with ‘plate’ cameras, covering the High Street area. One of the pictures (looking towards Robinsons Dept Store/ Maxwell Corner), I seem to recall, could have been taken from the upper window just visible on the right hand side of this photograph, in which there appears to be a standing figure.
Strange to think that this massively attended ceremony, to honour those men who had fallen in WWI, came just 10 years before there was almost a 67% rate of unemployment in Stockton. This in a UK, that was promised by politicians, to become a ‘land fit for heroes’ at the end of hostilities.