War Memorial: Honoring Heroes through Strategy and Sacrifice

By Fouad Sabry

What is War Memorial

A building, monument, statue, or other structure that is constructed to honor people who have died or been injured in a conflict is referred to as a war memorial. conflict memorials can be used to celebrate a war or victory.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: War memorial

Chapter 2: El Alamein

Chapter 3: Remembrance Day

Chapter 4: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Chapter 5: Cenotaph

Chapter 6: Australian War Memorial

Chapter 7: Eternal flame

Chapter 8: Mount Herzl

Chapter 9: Shrine of Remembrance

Chapter 10: National War Memorial (Canada)

(II) Answering the public top questions about war memorial.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of War Memorial.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Jun 23, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: War memorial

Whether it be a building, monument, statue, or other structure, a war memorial is a structure that is constructed to memorialize a war or victory, or (most commonly in modern times) to honor those who have lost their lives or been injured in a battle.

It has been hypothesized that the White Monument in Tell Banat, which is located in the Aleppo Governorate of Syria, is the earliest known war memorial in the world. This monument is believed to have been constructed in the third millennium BC and appears to have involved the methodical burial of soldiers who served in a different state army. One of the provisions of the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871) stipulated that a permanent resting place would be provided for each and every soldier who was killed in action.

As a means of paying tribute to the millions of people who lost their lives during World War I, war memorials were popular in towns of all sizes and in every region of the world.

At this point in time, the primary purpose of war monuments is not to glorify war but rather to memorialize those who have passed away as a result of conflict. Sometimes, as was the case with Willy Brandt's Warsaw Genuflection, they may also serve as focal points of greater understanding amongst individuals who were formerly adversaries.

The War Graves Photographic effort is an international effort that is currently in the process of documenting all Commonwealth war graves and Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials that were created after 1914. For further information, please refer to The War Graves Photographic Project.

Numerous countries suffered enormous destruction and a loss of life as a result of World War I. The eastern region suffered a greater number of fatalities than the western region, although the outcome was of a different nature. In the west, and in response to the victory there obtained, most of the cities in the countries involved in the conflict erected memorials, with the memorials in smaller villages and towns often listing the names of each local soldier who had been killed in addition (so far as the decision by the French and British in 1916 to construct governmentally designed cemeteries was concerned) to their names being recorded on military headstones, often against the will of those directly involved, and without any opportunity of choice in the British Empire (whose war graves were administered by the Imperial War Graves Commission). The Menin Gate in Ypres and the Thiepval memorial on the Somme are two examples of the massive British monuments that were built to commemorate thousands of those who had died during the war but whose places of burial have not been determined.

One of the memorials that honors all of the American service members who served during the Great War is the Liberty Memorial, which can be found in Kansas City, Missouri. For various reasons connected with their character, the same may be said to apply to certain governmental memorials in the United Kingdom (The Cenotaph in London, relating to the Empire in general, and the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh, also with a reference to the Empire, but with particular connections to the United Kingdom, having been opened by the Prince of Wales in 1927 and with the King and the Queen the first visitors and contributors of a casket of the Scottish names for addition within the Shrine). A geometric paved tree-lined plaza can be found in the middle of Baltimore, Maryland, facing the Baltimore City Hall to the west. The War Memorial Building can be found to the east of the plaza, and below it is a large marble decorated civic auditorium and a historical and veterans museum. The plaza was designed by Laurence Hall Fowler and was dedicated in 1925.

Following the conclusion of World War I, Pacifist war memorials have been established in a few towns in France.

As opposed to paying tribute to the illustrious deceased, Figures of mourning widows and children, rather than soldiers, are featured on these memorials, which are meant to condemn war.

The memorials in question sparked indignation among veterans and members of the armed forces in general.

The one that is the most well-known is located in the Creuse department near Gentioux-Pigerolles.

Below the column that contains the names of those who have lost their lives, there is a bronze orphan that is pointing to an inscription that reads Maudite soit la guerre (which translates to Cursed be war).

As a result of the intense emotions that were there, the memorial was not officially opened to the public until the year 1990. Additionally, troops stationed at the neighboring army camp were instructed to turn their heads whenever they passed by.

Another such memorial is in the small town of Équeurdreville-Hainneville (formerly Équeurdreville) in the department of Manche.

This particular statue depicts a bereaved widow who is accompanied by two little children.

Despite the fact that there does not appear to be a pacifist memorial that is exactly equal to one in the United Kingdom, it is clear that the emotions shared by many individuals were the same. Therefore, and despite the fact that it appears that this has never been widely acknowledged, it is possible to argue that there was a construction of war memorials throughout the United Kingdom that made reference to the idea of peace. For example, the West Hartlepool War Memorial, which is located in what is now known as Hartlepool (which was formerly known as West Hartlepool), features the inscription Thine O Lord is the Victory. This memorial is connected to, among other architectural works, the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences, which was built in 1871 and featured a frieze that included the same words and concluded with the phrase Glory be to God on high and on earth peace..

In many instances, memorials that were originally erected in honor of World War I were later expanded to include the names of residents who had also passed away during World War II.

From that point forward, memorials to those who lost their lives in later wars, such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War, have likewise acknowledged the efforts of individuals, at least in the Western world.

In relation to actions that may very well be historically connected with the world wars, even if this happens, for whatever reason, not to be a matter of general discussion (for example, the occupation by Western forces in the 1920s of Palestine and other areas that were the homelands of Arabs in the Near East, which was then followed eighty years later in 2001 by the '9/11' raid on New York and other locations in the United States), similar memorials that are not only historically significant but also architecturally significant are also designed and built (see the National September 11 Memorial).

In terms of both composition and type, war memorials can vary greatly from one another. There are numerous war memorials that typically take the shape of a traditional monument or statue. Other war memorials are comprised of complete structures, which frequently include a museum. Still others are little more than simple plaques. Commemorative gardens, stadiums, eternal flames, urban plazas, stained glass windows, gates, fountains and/or pools of water, military equipment, and parks are some of the numerous different forms that war monuments might take. However, this list is not exhaustive.

For the purpose of holding memorial ceremonies, war memorials are frequently used as gathering places. As a result, they are frequently located close to the town center, or they are confined to a park or plaza in order to facilitate easy access for the general public.

There are numerous war memorials that consist of plaques that list the names of individuals who were killed in combat. There are occasions when these lists might be quite lengthy. Others are more generic in character and have inscriptions naming numerous theaters of war, while others are dedicated to a particular combat. Some war memorials are dedicated to individual battles.

Numerous war memorials feature epitaphs that are intertwined with the particular unit, conflict, or war that they honor. As an illustration, The Ode by Laurence Binyon is an epitaph that is adorning several memorials in countries that are members of the Commonwealth:

In the same way that we, who are still alive, will age, they will not age.

They will not be worn down by age, nor will the years condemn them.

When the sun is setting and when the sun is rising in the morning

We shall have a memory of them.

The Memorial Arch at the Royal Military College of Canada, which is dedicated to remembering former cadets who passed away while serving in the military, incorporates words from the poem The Dead written by Rupert Brooke:

Put out your horns, you scumbags, over the wealthy Dead.

There is not a single one of these that is poor and lonely of old, But our passing has made us more valuable than gold as presents.

In the years that followed the conclusion of World War I, a vigorous debate