The Liverpool Scottish Memorial is a
World War I memorial erected in Belgium in 2000. It is located in Railway Wood on the Bellewaerde Ridge near
Zillebeke, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres, and a little north of
Hooge. The area was the site of intensive fighting in the
First World War. Near the memorial is the site of
RE Grave, Railway Wood.
Unit history
The Liverpool Scottish
The Liverpool Scottish, known as "the Scottish", was a unit of the British Army, part of the Army Reserve (formerly the Territorial Army), raised in 1900 as an infantry battalion of the King's (Liverpool Regiment). The Liverpool Scottish became af ...
unit of the
British Army fought in the second wave of the "Battle of Hooge", officially known as the "First Attack at Bellewaarde", in June 1915 during World War I. This action, in defence of the
Ypres Salient, was not altogether successful and resulted in the depletion of the unit. Many men from the battle are buried at
Tyne Cot Cemetery.
[LiverpoolScottish.org.uk](_blank)
on the dedication of the memorial, accessed 19 June 2006
Stone history
The
memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...
is made up of three parts - a
carved stone
Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time.
Work carried ...
, the inscription tablet in black
marble and the flagstones around the memorial.
The carved stone, showing the badge of the 10th (Scottish) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment), was originally the keystone of the Fraser Street barracks of the unit. When the barracks were demolished in 1967 the stone was salvaged and placed into storage. In 1978 it was placed in front of the new Score Lane headquarters on a brick plinth. When these headquarters closed in 1999, the unit decided to move the stone, as part of a new memorial, to the
Ypres area.
[LiverpoolScottish.org.uk](_blank)
on the unveiling of the memorial, accessed 19 June 2006
A black marble inscription, describing the actions at Bellewaarde, was placed at the base of the stone. The flagstones surrounding the memorial were donated by
Liverpool City Council and amount to 2 tonnes of paving blocks (
cobbles
Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings.
Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...
) from the streets of the city.
Inscription
The stone is inscribed in
English and
Dutch, the language of the locality.
In English, it reads:
''THE LIVERPOOL SCOTTISH BELLEWAARDE''
''16 June 1915''
''From a line 250 m. West of this point 23 officers and 519 other ranks of 1/10 (Scottish) Battalion The King's (Liverpool) Regiment, TF, advanced East up the slope towards German trenches on Bellewaarde Ridge.4 officers and 75 other ranks were killed, 11 officers and 201 other ranks were wounded and 6 officers and 103 other ranks were missing. Of the missing all the officers and - with a very few exceptions - all the men were subsequently reported killed.''
''In memory of all who have served in The Liverpool Scottish and have died in the service of their country.''
References
External links
wo1.be
{{DEFAULTSORT:The Liverpool Scottish Memorial Stone
British military memorials and cemeteries
World War I memorials in Belgium
Liverpool
Ypres Salient