I walk past this statue perhaps once every week. Written on it is “To the men of Cambridgeshire, the Isle of Ely, the borough and University of Cambridge who served in the Great War 1914-1919 and in the World War 1939-1945”
‘The Great War’ refers to World War 1 and ‘the World War’ refers to World War 2. It stands still there with the Botanical Garden to its west, the train station to its east, the city centre to the north and the education department to the south. There isn’t a little girl on the monument…neither does it drain blood or constantly have fighter jets flying above it… but often when I walk past it, it’s those things that come to mind: the blood spilt, the people who live now because of heroism during the wars then, how scary it must have been to have bombs falling from the sky then, and how scary it must be now for those who are living through wars around the world today. There are War memorials all over the UK. It’s a bit difficult to be here and not appreciate how significant a period in history it was for Britain. It’s difficult to think of it as distant. I’ve read of the Wars and watched films about them. I know that they were horrid, but being here somehow makes that history seem much more real.
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