An unexpected memorial

Perhaps I should re-title this blog to reflect its recent emphasis on war memorials. But these fascinating pieces of public art do always remind me of my time in London, and, in fact, in the U.K. Where they seem to be omni-present.

On a recent trip I encountered a memorial that surprised me. It commemorates a war that became overshadowed by the much larger conflicts that followed it, but which contained some hints of what was to come.

"to commemorate the heroic devotion of the Canadians
who fell in the South African War..."

In the middle of downtown Montréal is this handsome memorial to Canadians who fought with Britain in the Boer War, which happened around the turn of the 20th century. The memorial was erected in 1907.

Given all the many memorials I visited and photographed in the U.K., I don't remember a single one commemorating this conflict! I wonder what impulse led to its appearance here? Granted, I know very little about this war. Some of the battles listed on the memorial sounded vaguely familiar...

face of the memorial listing Boer War battles

What I primarily know is that Churchill made a name for himself as a war correspondent during it, and that it introduced concentration camps to the world.

But if I had to name a Dominion country who participated in the war, it would be the Aussies. Admittedly, this knowledge comes from seeing Breaker Morant at an impressionable age, not from any military history knowledge.

However, even an unpopular and somewhat obscure war has a human cost that should be remembered. And I found this unexpected memorial well executed and a moving sight in the early dusk of our stroll around a small part of this lovely city.

War Memorial Central--west

Living, as I do, in a city that has its own Cenotaph, war memorials that remind me of London aren't exactly scarce in my experience. But I recently got a mega-dose by visiting a series of these structures in connection with an evening at the Symphony.

The large center in the background of this photo is our newly renovated Tobin Center, which I've blogged about over on Hometown Tourist. But the small stone-and-statuary edifice in the foreground is our local Korean War Memorial. Here's a closer view:

Then, at the other end of this plaza that faces the Center, is our Vietnam Memorial, a very dramatic sculpture:

It's large enough, with enough busy city in the background, that it's hard to get a picture of the whole thing. This is just part of it. You can see the multitude of flowery offerings left there, though, probably because of the recent anniversary of the end of the war. I imagine that there are usually not so many wreaths there, but I suspect there's always one or two at least.

I had seen the Korean and Vietnam memorials before, but new for me on this visit was the Veterans' Plaza on the backside of the Center. This space, which leads up from the River Walk, is marked by this series of handsome plaques. They not only name, but describe the heroic actions of Congressional Medial of Honor recipients from the San Antonio area. On this visit I didn't have time to read them all, but I plan to make a stop in this plaza a normal part of my pre-Symphony routine in the future, so I hope to read them all someday.

(Look for more views of the plaza in general at Hometown Tourist soon.)

Bike reminder

Walking across the University of Texas at Austin campus the other day, I happened to see a series of signs that reminded me of the various cycle-related signs I saw in the UK:

For some reason, whenever there are a lot of bikes around, they get especially touchy about where you park them!

Note the text on the sign is in burnt orange...of course!