Wigan's Boer War Memorial

    Wigan's Boer War Memorial was erected by public subscription in Mesnes Park in 1903 to commemorate the men of Wigan and district who died in the Second Boer or South African War of 1899-1902. Hitherto the British army had been a small professional army usually engaged in small, colonial wars. In this war the British found themselves short of troops to fight the well-armed citizen armies of the Boer [Boer=Dutch Settler] Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Accordingly the call went out for volunteers throughout the United Kingdom and the Dominions of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and eventually the British won, creating the Dominion of South Africa.
     It had, however, been a controversial war. Its supporters believed it to be a just war fought to protect the democratic rights of British settlers in South Africa. Its opponents argued that it was an unjust war fought to seize the gold and diamond mines of the Boer Republics. Speakers at the unveiling of the Memorial acknowledged this division. Sir Francis Sharp Powell, MP for Wigan, whose statue still sits in Mesnes Park, declared that 'There had been differences of opinion respecting the war itself ... but there was no difference as to the regard and estimation in which they held those who fought for England'. Councillor Fyans called the Memorial '

                                                      The Old Memorial

for all time a monument to the bravery of Wigan soldiers'.
    The statue was carved by Sir William Goscomber John RA (1860-1950), a pupil of Rodin and the leading British sculptor of his generation. It was carved out of marble with a bronze flag and pistol.
   By the 1960s the statue was suffering from damage caused by atmospheric pollution and vandalism. In 1968 Wigan Borough Council ordered its removal. It was taken down, and buried at the back of the Park. Recent efforts to find it have failed.
   In 2003 the Friends of Wigan's Boer War came together to replace the missing statue. The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry, the local detachment of the Military Reserve (formerly the Territorial Army) gave its enthusiastic support. Donations large and small were received from members of the public. Grants were received from the Duchy of Lancaster, the Manchester Guardians, the Friends of Mesnes Park, SAVE Wigan, and the Wigan Pie-Eaters Motorcycle Club. The Heritage Lottery Fund made a grant towards the cost of fencing and paving. The Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, which administers the Park on behalf of the Council, gave its support to the project. Planning permission was received. The Council gave the Friends the free lease of the site.
     Eventually a new statue was unveiled on 14 December 2013. It is not a replica of the original, but is a statue of a soldier of the Boer War stood to attention. It was supplied by Stonelove.

                                              The New Memorial Unveiled
                                              

                                                The New Memorial with one of its Friends
     An annual wreath-laying ceremony takes place in May.

                                           Wreath-laying Ceremony, May 2013

Bibliography
H. W. Koch, History of Warfare (London, 1998)
Byron Farwell, The Great Boer War (Ware, 1999)
Byron Farwell, Queen Victoria's Little Wars (Ware, 1999)
Denis Judd and Keith Surridge, The Boer War (London, 2002)
Fred Holcroft, The Devil's Hill (Wigan, 1992)
John Downham, Red Roses on the Veldt (Lancaster, 2000)
John Brereton, Chain Mail - The History of the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry 1798-1991 (Chippenham, no date)
Lawrence James, The Rise and Fall of the British Empire (London, 1998)

John Hannavy, Wigan:History and Guide (Stroud, 2003)

Websites:Wigan Memorial
www.wiganworld.co.uk 
www.wigantoday.net 
www.youtube.com 

Websites:The Boer War
www,angloboerwar.com  
www.bbc.co.uk/history
www.roll-of-honour.com/Boer/