Caption
Sometime numbers can be overwhelming, so large you just can't visualise them. This war memorial cleverly brings together a quiet place for contemplation along with a way of visualising the number of fallen from World War I.
Each of the 27 panels represent a two month period from 1914 (on the left) through to 1918. The height of a panel represents the number of causalities during that period with 1cm equalling 500 people. If the panel has a slot cut into it, it represents the number of causalities from a major battle within that time frame with the name of the battle by its side. The tallest panel is during 1918 representing over 300,000 casualties.
This memorial in particular commemorates the contribution the Worcestershire Regiment made at the battle of Gheluvelt (near Ypres, Belgium), a contribution widely held to have been a major importance in halting a German advance that would have altered the course of the conflict.
The plain panels in the middle list the men and their honours of the Worcestershire Regiment killed on October 31st at Gheluvelt and the back contains the words of Field Marshal Sir Claud Jacob.
"Let it never be forgotten that the true glory of the fight at Gheluvelt lies not in the success achieved but in the courage which urged our solitary battalion to advance undaunted amid all the evidences of retreat and disaster to meet great odds in a battle apparently lost."