Memorial obelisk to men of the 1st Training Battalion (Australian Imperial Forces), Durrington

Summary

First World War memorial granite obelisk, unveiled 1917.

Reasons for Designation

The memorial obelisk to men of the 1st Training Battalion (Australian Imperial Forces), which stands in Durrington Cemetery, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as an eloquent witness to the impact of world events on local communities, both in the UK on the Home Front and in Australia, and the sacrifices made by Commonwealth troops in the First World War.

Architectural interest:

* a monumental granite obelisk in the Classical style.

Historic association:

* in the wider context of the long history of military training on Salisbury Plain, with the Grade II-listed Hewetson Cross and Airmen’s Cross, and listed structures at Larkhill Camp and Durrington Camp.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. However, this trend had its roots not in the wake of the war but in the midst of the conflict. A number of war memorials were raised before the 1918 Armistice: examples include the war memorial cross in Rawtenstall Cemetery, Lancashire, erected in September 1915 (Grade II-listed); street shrines in cities including Kingston-upon-Hull and St Albans; the Grade II*-listed cross outside St George’s Church, Deal, erected in 1916 to the Tisdall brothers.

These memorials commemorated local men who had died overseas in different theatres of conflict, but memorials were also raised to acknowledge the deaths of men who died whilst training in the UK. Early examples include the Hewetson cross (1913) and the Airmen’s cross (1912), both Grade II-listed, commemorating the deaths of airmen who had died in training exercises over the Stonehenge Aerodrome. The nearby memorial in Durrington Cemetery was erected as a permanent testament to 13 men of the 1st Training Battalion, Australian Imperial Force (AIF), who died whilst on training based at Larkhill Camp during the First World War.

The Salisbury Plain Training Area (Wiltshire) has a long history of military training since the late C19, and the approximately 39,000ha area is still in use, divided into a number of ranges, with garrisons, camps, and airfields. During the First World War a system by which each Australian Imperial Force Brigade would have a battalion of infantrymen at a training depot was established, in late 1915. In mid-1916, when Australian infantry were being transferred from the Mediterranean to France, the training depots were moved to Salisbury Plain.

These depots were arranged in five Training Groups. By mid-1917 the programme for 14 weeks’ basic training had been fully refined, and in November of that year the Training Groups were replaced by Training Brigades. The 1st Training Battalion became part of 1st Training Brigade (Sutton Veny). The 13 soldiers of this battalion commemorated by the memorial in Durrington Cemetery all died in different incidents between 6 January and 2 June 1917. The monument, raised by their comrades, was unveiled by the Bishop of Salisbury on 6 October 1917. Most of the 204 First World War burials in Durrington Cemetery are of men from Larkhill Camp, approximately 2.5km to the south-west. More than 140 are Australian servicemen.

The monument was drawn by South Australian artist John Goodchild in 1919: Goodchild was a member of the AIF and his pen-and-ink depiction is in the collections of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Details

The 1st Training Battalion memorial stands in the southern part of Durrington Cemetery. The approximately 4.5m-high red Scottish granite memorial comprises an obelisk, square on plan, set on a large rectangular base. The north side of the obelisk bears a shield. The blocks are rough-hewn.

Rectangular polished granite panels are inset into each face of the base. Each panel has an inscription in gilded incised lettering. The principal dedicatory inscription on the north-facing panel reads TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN MEMORY OF/ THE MEN OF THE/ FIRST TRAINING BATT./ AUSTRALIAN/ IMPERIAL FORCES/ WHO DIED/ ON ACTIVE SERVICE/ AT LARK HILL.

The south-facing panel reads GREATER LOVE/ HATH NO MAN/ THAN THIS/ THAT A MAN/ LAY DOWN/ HIS LIFE/ FOR HIS FRIENDS whilst the west-facing panel gives the names of the men who died, including their service numbers, rank, battalion and date of death. The inscription on the east-facing panel, inscribed under a Latin cross, reads ERECTED BY THEIR/ COMRADES/ 1917.


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, 27 February 2018.

Sources

Books and journals
Wilson, G., Bully Beef and Balderdash: Some Myths of the AIF Examined and Debunked, (2012)
Stevenson, R., To Win the Battle: the 1st Australian Division in the Great War 1914-1918, (2013), pp95-6

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 19 May 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/69966
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Durrington Cemetery, accessed 30 October 2017 from https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/45302/durrington-cemetery/
War Memorials Online, accessed 27 February 2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/242354

Other
Sedgwick, C. (2014) Memorial to Men of 1st Training Battalion, A.I.F. at Durrington Cemetery [accessed 19 May 2017] http://www.wiltshire-opc.org.uk/Items/Durrington/Durrington%20-%20Memorial%20to%201st%20Training%20Battalion%20A.I.F..pdf
"News in Brief." Times [London, England] 8 October 1917: 5. The Times Digital Archive. Web. [accessed 30 October 2017]

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