A MEMORIAL OF JULY 1 1916- THE FIRST DAY OF THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME.

The small church of Saint Mary at Lesbury in Northumberland has an intriguing memorial of the Great War. It is a group of  three windows in the south wall of the nave. They are full of symbolism .There is reference  to two members of the Scott family who had strong local connections. The windows  particularly commemorate the death of George Henry Hall Scott on the first day of the battle of the Somme, July 1 1916. And what is more the design goes out of its way to memorialise that day  and the Franco-British collaboration on this front. The window is the product of the Archibald K Nicholson Studios.This was obviously a firm which could produce high quality glass if not particularly inspired glass.. It continued into the 1960s and Nicholson lived from 1871-1937.

The window was commissioned by Captain Scott's mother- Lady Henrietta Scott. Her husband, Sir Henry Hall Scott who was Captain Scott's father had died in 1911 and the window is partly to commemorate him.The family had a local connection with Hipsburn and  among other things Sir Henry founded the  Imperial Yeomanry for the South African War.

Captain Scott was born in Northumberland and by profession was an engineer. He was in the 7th Battalion of the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment. His age at death was 34. He is  buried in the Dantzig Alley Cemetery, Mametz-not far away from where he died.

Much is made of the Anglo French collaboration in the Great War and military circumstances have obviously suggested this theme. I cannot sufficiently stress its importance for the scheme of the design.

The three windows have conventional depictions of-from east to west-St George,The Angel with the Crown of Victory,and St Joan of France. It is the lower panels of the windows which have the most  detailed interest.

When you look at the lower panel of the St George  window which illustrates the alliance you see that there are British troops on the left going out to attack Montauban and French troops are shown on the right setting out to capture Hardecourt. These places were respectively at the southern end of the British  Fourth Army  sector and the northern end of the French Sixth Army sector. So the  British and French armies are advancing to take  places only a mile or two apart.Both actions were in fact successful. On the left the British soldiers have just left their trench. On the right the French troops are setting out.Lest anyone could possibly forget the time of the offensive it is listed as "7.30 am.THE FIRST OF JULY 1916 on a scroll to the left of the scene, The objectives Montauban and Hardecourt are named clearly in the glass.The significance of Montauban is that it was a ridge in a commanding position:so too the hill at Hardecourt,

British and French Soldiers starting their advance on the first day of the battle of the Somme.

French Soldiers

The lamb and flag of St George appear in the lower panel of the central window with the inscription GLORIA: IN: EXCELSIS: DEO on the left of the panel and ET:IN:TERRA:PAX on the right.The lamb of course symbolises Christ. Nearby is a chalice, referring to communion and sacrifice-Christ's sacrifice and by implication that of Captain Scott.Below the altar are the figures of Martyrs with particular associations with Britain.

The Central, Angel Window.

Lamb and Flag, also the badge of Capt Scott's Regiment.

St Joan Window

The third window shows St Joan. In a cartouche above the panel are the words BEATA:JEANNE:D'ARC. The panel below shows her on horseback. Once again there is reference to martial glory.Her flag is mentioned with its slogan "De par le Roy du Ciel" (By God's Will). To the right is  is shown the fleur-de-lys and the French war cry "Montjoye Saint-Denis". The cross of Saint George is on the left side.

Lower panel, St Joan Window.

There is additionally a plaque commemorating Captain Scott-placed there by his regiment.

At one time the official explanation of the iconography hung in the church but I did not notice it on my last visit.I  photographed it in 2008.Other information is available on the internet.

A note about my great uncle who enlisted under -age  and also died on the first day of the Somme can be found in the post about the war memorial plaque at nearby Longhoughton church. You can find it here.