War Memorial to the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry

A First World War memorial to the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry, unveiled in 1922, by masons Cash and Wright; with bronze bas-relief panels by Adrian Jones MVO (1845-1938), cast by RL Boulton and Sons. The memorial was altered after the Second World War by the addition of a further relief panel by Edward Payne (1906-1991).

MATERIALS An ashlar limestone memorial, with inset cast bronze plaques.

DESCRIPTION The memorial takes the form of a tall cross having a sword carved in relief on its front face, with the regimental badge in relief on the foot below the shaft of the cross. Other faces of the foot are inscribed: EGYPT / GALLIPOLI / SINAI / PALESTINE / SYRIA. This is set on a high octagonal plinth in the centre of a wider octagonal base or podium surrounded by three steps. A bronze panel, by Adrian Jones, is inset into each face of the plinth: four of the panels are bas-reliefs, each depicting a scene of soldiers of the regiment serving during WWI in campaigns as inscribed: Siniae [sic] 1916, Palestine 1917, Gallipoli 1915, Syria 1918; and alternating with the reliefs are four panels inscribed with the names of the 225 men who died during the First World War. The panels depict specific incidents. Gallipoli shows 21 August 1915, with troops climbing a high cliff behind Lala Baba Hill on the shore, before advancing across the dry bed of the Salt Lake, where they sustained heavy casualties. Sinai is sculpted from a photograph taken during the many months the regiment was stationed in the desert, and shows the soldiers, mounted, descending the steep slope of a sand hill with palm trees behind. Palestine shows the scene in February 1918 when the regiment, after three months of fighting, crossed the River Jordan, sending over rafts and setting up pontoon bridges. The final panel, Syria, encapsulates much of the regiment’s experience, showing as it does, tired and thirsty horses being rested and watered after a long trek through the country.

The plinth stands on a wider base, one face of which is inscribed IN MEMORY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE / ROYAL GLOUCESTERSHIRE HUSSARS / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE WAR 1939 -1945 / AND WHOSE NAMES ARE RECORDED IN / GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL. The adjacent face carries an inset bronze bas-relief panel added in 1950, sculpted by Edward Payne. The panel is a composite scene with soldiers and tanks. Beneath the dates 1939 – 1945 are carved.

The whole memorial stands on a platform of three wide, shallow steps.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 10 January 2017.