Memorial

Statue 1914-18 1939-45 Falklands Riverside

Tweedmouth

Memorial Name: Statue 1914-18 1939-45 Falklands Riverside (T31.01)

NEWMP Ref No.: T31.01

Parish: Tweedmouth

Original Location:

Beside the river Tweed and below the low bridge crossing the river.

Which War:

a. 1914-18
b. 1939-45
c. 1982 (Falklands)
d. Post-1945

Dedication, Creation or Publication date:

a. Unveiled ?25th October 1920 by Captain the Hon. W. Watson Armstrong of 7th Northumberland Fusiliers.

Materials Used:

Granite.

Who Commissioned:

Inhabitants of Tweedmouth and other friends

Cost:

Estimated at £600

How Money was Raised:

Public subscription

Sculptor, Artist or Designer:

Messrs. H. Hutchion, Ltd., Aberdeen

Ownership and Maintenance: Ownership vested in Tweedmouth War Memorial Trustees. Maintenance by the War Memorial Trustees.

Inscription:

Front panel:
In ever grateful and
proud remembrance
of the brave men of
Tweedmouth who fell
in the Great War
1914-18.
and of the men and women
of Tweedmouth
who lost their lives in
the Second World War.

“They were a wall unto us
Both by Night and Day”
————
2nd Engineering Officer
Paul A. Henry, G.M.
8th June 1982
aboard R.F.A. Sir Galahad
at Bluff Cove – Falkland Islands.

Erected by the inhabitants of
Tweedmouth and other friends

1914-1919
1939-1945

Beneath the above panel:
To the memory of
the men and women
of Tweedmouth
who have fallen
since 1945

Memorial Description:

Statue of angel kneeling, on top of a granite pedestal resting on a stone stepped plinth.

The whole monument is about 21 feet tall (6.4m).

The dedication is embossed on the south face of the pedestal, with the dedication for 1939-45 and Falklands added beneath.

Below this, the dates “1914-1919” are raised in half relief.

On the other three sides are stone sunken panels each being about 8 feet high (244cms), and tapering slightly from about 36 inches at the bottom to 30 inches at the top ( 91cms x 76cms).

These bear the names for 1914-18.

On the front top step is another plaque for those who have fallen Post 1945.

All lettering is in sans serif capitals.

Names:

a. 117 names and regiments.
b. None
c. 1 rank, ship and date of death.
d. None.
See transcript.

Notes:

1. The Prince of Wales laid a wreath on May 16th 1028 (Morpeth Library Postcard collection)

2. The funds of the Tweedmouth memorial have now mounted to £580 and the committee met on Monday night to consider designs of the memorial. No special design was selected the choice being left in the hands of a sub committee the final decision to rest with a public meeting to be called at a later date. Contributions are still coming in, one of the latest being a subscription of £2 5 shillings from Canada from a man who has friends in Tweedmouth though he has only once visited the place himself. Another source of revenue is the collecting boxes which have been placed in various shops in Tweedmouth and have yielded surprisingly well. Over £16 has been got from these boxes one of the last to be opened bringing in £4 odds. (Berwick Advertiser)

3. Capt. The Hon. W. Watson-Armstrong of Cragside, Rothbury, who was to unveil the memorial because he was so well known in Berwick through his connection with local Territorials, had to return to the Home Office because of the threatened rail strike, which upset the plans for the unveiling.

4. The memorial was restored in 2016 in a project organized by the Berwick Preservation Trust. The work included deep cleaning of the whole memorial, repointing the base section, restoring damaged lettering and painting all the lettering. The work was done by Mike Viaene of Roluna Stone, which operates from the Tweedside Trading Estate. Funding came from the Small Schemes Money.

External Links:

Historic England Listing

 

Sources:

Photos: P. Thirkell; Janet Digby; Janet Brown; old postcards: Tony Harding; George Nairn

Berwick Advertiser
01/09/1919 reports decision to have a separate memorial from Berwick;
09/01/1920 reports fundraising in Note 2 above;
27/02/1920 reports fundraising Free Gift Sale which raised £283
24/03/2016 reports restoration.

Illustrated Chronicle
04/11/1920 and 25/11/1922 both carry photos.

Northern Echo
12/03/1920 reports decisions;
27/08/1920 has progress report;
25/10/1920 reports Capt. Armstrong’s return to London;
26/10/1920 reports unveiling.

Morpeth County Library
Postcard collection shows memorial on a site near the old bridge, and unveiling.

Source of quotation
 “They were a wall unto us . . .” 1 Samuel XXV 15, 16

Sources Link: Illustrated Chronicle 11 04 Thu -1920
Sources Link: Northern Echo 03 12 Fri -1920
Sources Link: Northern Echo 08 27 Fri -1920
Sources Link: Northern Echo 10 25 Mon -1920
Sources Link: Northern Echo 10 26 Tue -1920

Additional Research Documents

Research Acknowledgements:

Capt. D. Armstrong;
Janet Brown;
Berwick upon Tweed Town Council;
Philip Thirkell;
Tony Harding;
Janet Digby;
Dorothy Hall;
George Nairn;
Colin Wakeling

Research In Progress:

Research on names for 1939-45 is being carried out by Tony Brown.

Contact: tonybrown901@btinternet.com

Photo: J. Brown
Provide Details

If you know more about this memorial, please send the details to NEWMP.

Names Documents:

TWEEDMOUTH, by river side.

 

  In ever grateful and

  proud remembrance

  of the Brave Men of

  Tweedmouth who fell

  in the Great World War

  1914-1918.

  And the men and women

  of Tweedmouth

  who lost their lives in

  the Second World War.

 

  “They were a wall unto us

   Both by Night and Day”.

 

  2nd Engineering Officer

  Paul A. Henry, G.M.

  8th June, 1982

  aboard R.F.A. Sir Galahad

  at Bluff Cove, Falkland Islands.

 

  Erected by the Inhabitants of

  Tweedmouth and other friends

  1914-1919

  1939-1945

 —————————————————————–

East face                         North face                             

  Ellen Ainslie         Munitions. William E. Nelson      W.Yorks.    

  Alexander Ainslie     S.H.       Thomas Harrison        N.F.         

  James Anderson        R.N.       Thomas Hartley         N.F.         

  James Anderson        S.H.       William Hastie         S.H.         

  Walter Armstrong      R.H.       John M. Heckels        K.O.Y.L.I.   

  William J. Black      R.F.       Thomas Heslop          M.G.C.       

  Francis Brogan        M.G.C.     William Heslop         R.S.         

  Gilbert Burton        C.S.       John B. Hettle         R.S.         

  Thomas H. Clark       S.Rfls.    William Hunter         N.F.         

  James Cockburn        K.O.S.B.   John Kincaid           C.Gds.      

  Mark Cockburn         N.F.       Richard King           R.S.         

  William L. Croll      R.H.       John Knowles           A.& S.H.    

  William S. Crow       R.E.       Henry Laidler          S.H.         

  William Curran        N.F.       William Laidler        S.H.         

  William J. Dalgleish  N.F.       Peter Lamb             R.N.         

  John Drummond         K.O.S.B.   William T. Leiper      R.S.         

  Thomas Dryden         N.F.       Archbold W. Lockhart   N.F.         

  William E. Dryden     R.E.       Thomas W. Logan        20th H.      

  Thomas Dumble         N.F.       Thomas W. Lowe         C.Gds.      

  William Dumble        N.F.       Alexander McNab        N.F.         

  Norman Elliott        R.S.       Stanley Makins         N.F.         

  David W. Edgar        C.M.G.C.   John Marshall          R.A.M.C.     

  John T. Evans         N.F.       Walter Marshall        N.F.         

  James Fawcus          N.F.       Harold Marston         M.G.C.       

  Thomas H. Fell        N.F.       Robert McDougall       R.F.A.       

  William Fettis        W.Yorks.   Thomas McDougall       N.F.         

  Daniel M. Glass       M.G.C.     James Menin            M.G.C.       

  Mark Graham           N.F.       William Millar         K.O.S.B.     

  John S. Grainger      L.R.       William McLeod         N.F.         

  George A. Gray        N.F.       John McVeigh           N.F.         

  James Gray            N.F.       Thomas Neilson         R.S.         

  Thomas Gray           S.H.       Andrew Oliver          Norfolks.    

  Thomas H. Grieve      R.N.       William J. Oliver      P.P.C.L.I.   

  William Grieve        N.F.       John S. Paxton         N.F.         

  William Greig         S.G.       Peter Paxton           N.F.         

  Patrick R. Grey       N.F.       James Piercy           N.F.         

  William Grey          N.F.       William J. Proudlock   R.S.         

  Ralph Hall            N.F.       Andrew R. Smith        D.L.I.       

  William W. Heckels    D.L.I.     James Stevenson        R.S.

  John Lauder           K.O.S.B.   George McLeod          N.F.

———————————————

West face   

  Mark C. Richardson    N.F.

  Richard M. Richardson S.H.

  George Robertson      R.N.

  John A.T. Robertson   Gka.Rfls.

  Robert A.W. Robison   K.R.R.

  Thomas L. Robson      N.F.

  William F. Scott      N.F.

  John P.N. Simpson     R.F.

  Walter G. Sinton      R.N.

  William Skelly        N.F.

  Alexander J. Smith    N.F.

  Walter W. Smith       S.H.

  James Spence          N.F.

  John Straffen         K.R.R.

  Robert H. Stokoe      E.Lancs.

  James Stokoe          Y.&.L.

  Richard Swan          N.F.

  James A. Tennant      R.S.

  Henry Thompson        R.E.

  Robert Turnbull       Q.W.R.

  David B. Walker       R.F.C.

  Arthur Wakenshaw      N.F.

  Robert T. Wastle      C.L.I.

  John Watson           R.S.

  Andrew Whitlie        N.F.

  Edward Whitlie        K.O.S.B.

  Peter Whitlie         R.S.F.

  Stafford Wilson       N.Z.R.

  William Wilson        N.F.

  Henry Wyllie          N.F.

  George Young          C.G.

  Ralph Young           M.T.C.

  John Younger          K.O.S.B.

  John Younger          N.F.

  James Younger         R.F.A.

  James W. Brown        N.F.

  John Cleghorn         N.F.

  William Liddell       R.S.

NamesT31.01

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