World War 1, the Great War, had an impact on society that we cannot internalise today. In the opening phase of the war the British Regular army performed magnificently, far beyond expectations. An apocryphal tale of the day suggested that the Kaiser referred to the British Expeditionary Force as “this contemptible little army” and the adopted the nickname the “Old Contemptibles“.
The British were vastly outnumbered and outclassed by the German military machine and this became glaringly obvious at actions such as the Rearguard Affair of Étreux. Few of the regulars survived the “Race to the Sea”. In response the British put out a call for volunteers to replace the shredded ranks of the regulars.
The outpouring of nationalistic fervour led to situations where large numbers of young men from the same towns or factories joined up together. In the early part of the conflict the Ministry of War thought it was a good idea to form these into “Pals Brigades”, instant communities of men who knew and trusted each other. This policy was changed once the first encounters between raw British recruits and experienced German troops well entrenched and defended. The scythe of death could reap the entire manhood of a small town or village.
Back home in those towns and villages as the death toll mounted the true horror of industrialised warfare was laid bare. The jingoistic songs like “Long way to Tipperary” gave way to “The Roses of Picardy” and poems of glorious self sacrifice by Rupert Brooke were nudged aside in favour of Dulce et Decorum Est.
When the war ended the Government and the military branches erected grand Cenotaphs, Triumphal Arches and War Memorials to commemorate the fallen. But at the local level the surviving servicemen and the families of the fallen wanted their own, more modest, and more personal monument. The obelisk became a common expression of grief. It is modest, easier to erect than a statue or an arch. It is something within the capability of any local gravestone maker.
It is also modest in cost. These memorial societies were ordinary working class people contributing a couple of shillings a week, or perhaps only pennies. All over Britain and Ireland you will find these small personal memorials to the local lads who fell. This one is on South Mall in Cork City
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