Royal Army Medical Corps Boer War Memorial

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS BOER WAR MEMORIAL

A granite and bronze memorial to members of the Royal Army Medical Corps who died in the Boer War, built around 1905. The bronze sculpture is by Sir William Goscombe John RA, with the architectural setting designed by RW Schultz Weir RA.

The memorial comprises a grey granite obelisk set centrally within a curved wall terminated by pillars, approached by three steps. The top of the obelisk bears the Corps insignia below which is inscribed "RAMC To those who gave their lives for their country". At the base is a plinth inscribed "South Africa 1899-1902" supporting a bronze sculpture in pieta composition depicting two uniformed Corps members treating a wounded soldier. Flanking walls feature vertically set bronze panels recording over 300 names.

The memorial is located at Aldershot, close to the Cambridge Military Hospital and McGrigor Barracks. Aldershot was established in 1852 as the first permanent training ground for the Army, with 8000 acres of heath purchased for the purpose. The site was chosen for its accessibility to London and the main naval arsenals via the new railways. Construction of barracks began in February 1854, with North and South Camps (later Stanhope and Marlborough Lines) of wooden huts erected by 1856, and permanent Wellington Lines built between September 1854 and 1859. Aldershot was innovative in being the first large-scale camp to omit a surrounding wall, emphasising its difference from earlier barracks with civil policing roles. It was followed by similar camps at Colchester and Shorncliffe, and included some of the earliest garrison examples of a church, library and gymnasium.

The Royal Army Medical Corps was formed in 1898, combining the previously separate medical resources of individual regiments. It developed significantly during the Boer War and reached its peak during the First World War. The memorial was created by Sir William Goscombe John (1860-1952), who trained in William Burgess's studio and at the Royal Academy Schools, where he won the Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship in 1889. John was influenced by Rodin, whom he met in Paris. The architectural setting was designed by Robert Schultz Weir (1860-1951), trained at the offices of R Norman Shaw and Earnest George and Peto, and at the Royal Academy Schools where he also won the Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship in 1887. Schultz Weir later became Master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1920.