I rarely go to Paddington Station but, a recent holiday in the West Country, gave me the opportunity to see that magnificent building. There were two things I particularly wanted to see there: the statue of Paddington Bear, of course, but more importantly, the 1922 bronze figure by Charles Sargeant Jagger, Soldier Reading a Letter. I took a look at this in the quiet of the evening – which is why the photos are dark – knowing the station would be very busy next morning when we had a train to catch!
This figure, which can be found on Platform 1, is the centrepiece of the Great Western Railway’s memorial to its staff who died in the Great War; this was later extended to include the dead of the Second World War.
There is no direct Salonika connection; whether any GWR staff died in Salonika, I can’t say. Jagger served with the Worcestershire Regiment at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, so the figure was certainly made with that latter experience in mind, but this soldier could just as easily be reading his letter in a Balkan winter. It’s a powerful and moving reminder at this remembrance time of the individual stories behind the casualty figures and the families at home.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
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