Delville Wood South African National Memorial

The Delville Wood South African National Memorial is a World War I memorial, located in Delville Wood, near the commune of Longueval, in the Somme department of France. It is opposite the Delville Wood Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery, on the other side of the Longueval–Ginchy road. Memorial development and inauguration Land acquisition Following the war, Delville Wood was purchased by the author and politician Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, and presented to South Africa. This was followed by the standard French policy of repurchasing the land for one franc and granting South Africa the land in perpetuity for memorial purposes. The memorial was funded by public subscription. Among those involved in organising the memorial was General Henry Lukin, who was appointed Deputy Chair of the Delville Wood Memorial Committee in July 1921. Description The memorial was designed by Sir Herbert Baker, assistant architect was Arthur James Scott Hutton, with a sculpture by Alfred Turner. It consists of a flint and stone screen either side of an archway, with a shelter at each end of the screen. On top of the arch is Turner's bronze statue of two men and a war horse. The two male figures, symbolising Castor and Pollux, represent the two white races of South Africa (British and Afrikaans). The main inscriptions are in both English and Afrikaans. Other inscriptions include the location of the South African campaigns (France, Flanders, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Egypt, Palestine, the Sea). On the archway are the following shorter inscriptions, again in English and Afrikaans: