War Memorial at Stretton-on-Dunsmore - geograph

Inscriptions on the memorial to the 29th Division - geograph

The 29th Division War Memorial is a war memorial beside the junction of the A45 and the B4455 near Stretton-on-Dunsmore, near

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...

. It commemorates the service of the British 29th Division during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The memorial became a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1987, upgraded to Grade II* in 2015, and it is described by Historic England as "probably the most significant single memorial in Britain associated with the Gallipoli campaign".

Background

The 29th Division was assembled in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

from late 1914, from largely regular army units returned from garrison duty in various parts of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. Approximately 18,000 servicemen paraded near

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

on 12 March 1915, formed into a marching column approximately long which was reviewed by the King,

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

. The column took over an hour to pass the King, who took the salute mounted on his horse Delhi. Soon afterwards, the 29th Division left England for war service abroad: with the

Royal Naval Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who wer ...

, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and the French

Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient The Corps Expeditionnaire d'Orient (Oriental Expeditionary Force) (CEO) was a French Expeditionary Force raised for service during the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I. The corps initially consisted of a single infantry division, but later grew ...

, it formed the

Mediterranean Expeditionary Force The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) was the part of the British Army during World War I that commanded all Allied forces at Gallipoli and Salonika. It was formed in March 1915, under the command of General Sir Ian Hamilton, at the beginn ...

that landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in April 1915. The British forces withdrew in January 1916 and the 29th Division was redeployed to France, serving on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

, including the first day of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

, and also at the Battle of Arras and the

Third Battle of Ypres The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

(Passchendaele), and then was part of the British Army of the Rhine that occupied parts of Germany after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

. By the time it was disbanded in March 1919, the division had suffered some 94,000 casualties.

Memorial

The memorial was designed and constructed by Robert Bridgeman and Sons from Lichfield. It comprises a tapering monolith of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

topped by a stone urn with crown and orb, standing on a square pedestal. The north side of the pedestal bears the red triangle insignia of the division, above which is a panel with the inscription: "HERE / IN THE CENTRE OF ENGLAND / WHERE TELFORD'S COACHING-ROAD / FROM LONDON TO HOLYHEAD / IS CROSSED BY THE ROMAN FOSSE WAY / ON THE 12TH OF MARCH 1915 / HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V / REVIEWED HIS TROOPS / OF THE IMMORTAL / XXIX DIVISION / SHORTLY BEFORE THEY EMBARKED / FOR ACTIVE SERVICE / IN GALLIPOLI" and carries on in smaller type "IN MEMORY OF THEIR STAY IN WARWICKSHIRE / 1914-15 AND OF THEIR INCOMPARABLE SERVICES / SINCE THE AVENUE ON THIS ROAD WAS REPLANTED / AND THIS MONUMENT ERECTED BY / INHABITANTS OF THE COUNTY". Inscriptions on the base of the pedestal record the division's

order of battle In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed ...

. It was erected after the war, near the place where the 29th Division was reviewed in 1915. The £646 cost was raised from public subscriptions, and £720 donated by

John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch John Charles Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch and 9th Duke of Queensberry, (30 March 1864 – 19 October 1935), styled The Honourable John Montagu Douglas Scott until 1884, Lord John Montagu Douglas Scott between 1884 and 1886 ...

who also donated the land for the memorial. The memorial was unveiled by the Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire William Craven, 4th Earl of Craven at a ceremony attended by over 7,000 people on 24 May 1921, Empire Day. It was accepted by the Chairman of Warwickshire County Council

Lord Algernon Percy :'' Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley was also known as Lord Algernon Percy from 1766-86.'' Colonel Lord Algernon Malcolm Arthur Percy (2 October 1851 – 28 December 1933) was a British career soldier and Conservative politician who sat in t ...

and dedicated by the Bishop of Coventry

Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Huyshe Wolcott Yeatman-Biggs (2 February 1845 – 14 April 1922), until 1898 known as Huyshe Wolcott Yeatman, was an influential Church of England clergyman who served as the only Bishop of Southwark to be a suffragan bishop (in the Dioces ...

. The memorial stands in circle of gravel with an avenue of

lime tree ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...

s. The limes were planted in the 1950s and later renewed, and replace the remains of a long avenue of elm trees to either side of the London Road (now the A45) planted in the early 18th century across

Dunsmore Heath Dunchurch is a large village and civil parish on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, approximately southwest of central Rugby. The civil parish which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, had a population of 4,1 ...

which had themselves been renewed as part of the memorial project in 1920-21 after many were blown down by a storm in 1912. Two captured

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artille ...

s were displayed to either side of the memorial, but it is believed that they were removed as

scrap metal Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

during the Second World War. The site is now within a roundabout installed in the mid-1980s at the junction of the A45 (close to the A5 route from London to

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

which follows the line of the Roman

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...

) and the B4455 (part of the Roman

Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis (Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bath), Corini ...

from Exeter to Lincoln). The memorial became a Grade II

in 1987, upgraded to Grade II* in March 2015

References

*
29th Division Column
Imperial War Museum
29th Division Column
War Memorials Online
The Incomparable 29th Division

29th Division
The Long, Long Trail
Gallipoli troops of the 'Immortal 29th Division' remembered 100 years after parade for the King
27 March 2015
War Memorial on London Road, Stretton on Dunsmore, near Rugby, Warwickshire
Our Warwickshire
War Memorial on London Road, Stretton on Dunsmore, near Rugby, Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Council {{coord, 52.35592, -1.39226, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB-WAR, display=title Grade II* listed monuments and memorials Grade II* listed buildings in Warwickshire Monuments and memorials in Warwickshire World War I memorials in England Buildings and structures completed in 1921

Background

Memorial

See also

References