Field Marshal Slim Plaque

Kyt · Sep 7, 2008

Shall try to get a photo of it next time I go shopping

BBC NEWS | England | Bristol | Plaque will honour army veteran

A memorial plaque honouring Field Marshal Lord Slim is to be unveiled on Bristol's Cenotaph on Sunday.

William Slim was born in the city in 1897 and joined the Army in 1914 before becoming commander of the Allied Ground Forces in Southeast Asia.

After the war he returned to England and became head of the Imperial Defence College. In 1948 he was appointed Chief of the Imperial Staff.

He also served as Governor General of Australia from 1953 to 1960.

Bristol's Lord Mayor, Christopher Davies, members of Field Marshal Lord Slim's family, representatives from the Burma Star Association and the Indian community will attend the unveiling.
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Antipodean Andy · Sep 7, 2008

Cool, K, local to you and very relevant to your interests too!

Kyt · Sep 8, 2008

Bill Slim plaque unveiled by his son who calls for racial harmony

THE son of Bristol-born World War II hero Bill Slim made an impassioned plea for racial harmony as he unveiled a plaque in the city to his father and his troops yesterday.

About 100 people – old soldiers and their families from many different communities in Bristol – watched as the second Viscount Slim cut the ribbon in front of the large circular plaque which is set in a stone plinth near the cenotaph in the city centre.

It honours not only Field Marshal Slim but the hundreds of thousands of men under his command in the 14th Army who fought back the Japanese who overran Burma.

Slim's soldiers were known as the Forgotten Army because people back home were more focused on events in Europe.

Lord Slim told the gathered throng of veterans and civic dignatories, including Lord Mayor Chris Davies: "This is a great honour for the Slim family.
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"If my father was here, he would say this plaque is a memorial to his soldiers.

"They came from every culture and creed you can think of: Indians, Gurkhas, Nepalese, Chinese, West African, Burmese, Australian, Canadian (as well as Britons).

"They fought together, lived together, prayed together. In the cemetery at Rangoon, some of them are buried together.

"It wasn't done before and it was a lesson in multi-culturalism."

Lord Slim said this was a lesson that should be heeded in Bristol.

"Bring your children to this plaque and learn about integration," he said.

This sense of unity was what made his father – "a son of Bristol", born and bred in Bishopston – so proud of the city, said his son.

Burmese Mya Pointing, of Highridge Road, Dundry, was greeted by Lord Slim after the ceremony.

She was there with her seven-year-old granddaughter, Corrie Pointing, who proudly wore her great-grandfather Harold Moore's medals for the occasion.

Following a short service of dedication led by Lord Mayor's chaplain, the Rev Prebendary Harold Clarke, wreaths were laid by representatives of Bristol's Sikh, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim communities and others. Little Isabella Marsh, aged just 20 months, of Knowle, placed a photograph of her great-grandfather, Colour Sgt Arthur Henry Marsh, of Stockwood, who fought in the Burma campaign.

Flags of the local British Legion branches and Burma Star branches from Cardiff, Chipping Sodbury and Gloucester were paraded at the ceremony.

But some Bristol members of the Burma Star Association boycotted the occasion.

They believe Field Marshal Slim, known to his troops as Uncle Bill, should be honoured not with a plaque, but a statue.

There are in fact plans for a statue following a campaign by the Evening Post earlier this year, which will have city council involvement, but have not yet been finalised.
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Kyt · Sep 23, 2008

It certainly is a very nice plaque.

Kyt · Sep 23, 2008

One more, one of the main Bristol War Memorial (which is about 60 feet from the plaque) and some of a memorial palque just across the road from the memorial

Kyt · Sep 23, 2008

I should point out that in the first picture the on top of the plaque's plinth is another statute behind it. Hadn't noticed that it looks like it is "sitting" on the plinth until I got home

liverpool annie · Sep 23, 2008

Kyt said: ↑

I should point out that in the first picture the on top of the plaque's plinth is another statute behind it. Hadn't noticed that it looks like it is "sitting" on the plinth until I got home
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Very nice pictures Kyt ... I especially like #5 and 6 !!

Antipodean Andy · Sep 23, 2008

Nice pics, mate. Proof that you do emerge in daylight hours too...

Kyt · Sep 24, 2008

Antipodean Andy said: ↑

Proof that you do emerge in daylight hours too...
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On rare occassions, with plenty of sunblock, dark glasses and a drop of blood in a phial for that all important resurrection :becky:

penance · Sep 24, 2008

Great to see it there, tho a shame that they promised a statue and gave a plinth.
I belive some local Burma vets boycotted the unveiling due to that.

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Field Marshal Slim Plaque

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