Erection date: 11/12/1932
{On the frieze:}
Belgian soldiers 1914 - 1918
{Below the pieta:}
Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
St John XV, 13.
{The large panels either side of the pieta carry the same text, to the left in Flemish and to the right in French, it being standard practice in Belgium to use both these languages:}
Ici reposent des soldats Belges qui après avoir été blessés en combattant pour l'indépendance de leur pays ont été accueillis en Angleterre et sont morts sur cette terre hospitalière que Dieu leur accorde le repos éternel et que la Belgique conserve pieusement leur souvenir.
{Here lie Belgian soldiers who, after being wounded while fighting for the independence of their country, were welcomed in England and died in this hospitable country. May God grant them eternal rest and may Belgium piously preserve their memory.}
{On the plaque laid in the terrace:}
A nous le souvenir à eux l'immortalité.
Oeuvre Nationale le Souvenir Belge, 1914 - 1918
{To us the memory, to them the immortality.
Belgium Commemoration, 1914 - 1918}
{On the two outer panels are inscribed the 77 names, in alphabetical sequence. See Subjects commemorated.}
{At the bottom of each of these two lists:}
R. I. P.
The Pieta was carved by Lindsey-Clark and has been restored by .
The plaque laid in the terrace carries the image and text from a medal sculpted by Edmond de Valeriola. See Oeuvre Nationale le Souvenir Belge for more information.
In the list most of the names have not been given a rank, they were privates.
Site: Belgian war memorial (1 memorial)
NW10, St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery
Note that this cemetery is physically separated from Kensal Green Cemetery, its larger neighbour to the east. You cannot pass from one to the other (as we learnt to our cost on a bitterly cold January day). The main route to this memorial is via the entrance at Alma Place, where there is also an entrance to the Kensal Green Cemetery. The only other entrance to St Mary's Cemetery is via a small gate in the north west corner on Scrubbs Lane. Our pin is in the correct location but to find this memorial it may help to know that the white building to the left of our photo is the toilets.
The magnificent gives the story behind this memorial. These Belgians had been treated at St Andrew's Hospital Dollis Hill Lane, NW2. The hospital was created in 1913, financed by a French benefactress. At the beginning of WW1 "Monsignor Maurice Carton de Wiart, the Hospital administrator who was from an illustrious Belgian family, set out with a party of nurses from the Hospital for the village of Hastiere in Belgium. ... Because of its special ability to cope with French-speaking patients, it received wounded soldiers from the French-speaking Belgian army. ... During WW1 ... Carton de Wiart ... acquired a plot of land in St Mary's Cemetery in which to bury the Belgian soldiers who had died at the Hospital. ... In 1923 some 75 bodies were removed ... and then transported to their native towns and villages for burial. The remaining 77 stayed in the cemetery plot."
has a photo of an event at the memorial captioned "Source/Bron: 'Le Patriote Illustré' (1923)" where all the participants are women. This was probably associated with the removal of the 75 bodies that year. In that photo the memorial appears to be complete so one would think there had already been an unveiling ceremony. However, the give the unveiling date as 11 December 1932 and says the ceremony was attended by Baron de Cartier de Marchienne, Ambassador of Belgium, and Bishop Myers, Bishop Auxiliary of Westminster.
Perhaps the removal of the 75 bodies was seen as so significant a change to the memorial that it was decided to re-consecrate it at a new unveiling ceremony. At the very least, either the list of names of the remaining 77 bodies had to be re-inscribed, or newly inscribed, if there had previously been no list.
At the centre top of the monument is the symbol of Belgium: a lion rampant with "Fait l'union la force" (Unity makes strength).
An indication of the close military ties between Britain and Belgium is given every July when .
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