Garden of Reflection and Reconciliation

Garden of Reflection and Reconciliation. . Please take time to rest in our garden. This is a Chichester City Council project to commemorate the end of World War One., The sculpture was carved in Sussex from a local fallen Oak tree., It is not intended to depict a specific individual but we took as a source of inspiration Private Alfred Smith who enlisted in the 4th Royal Sussex Regiment in December 1915 at the age of 29. Alfred was wounded in 1916 and invalided out of the Army later that year., The two sides of the sculpture show the same character. On one side in peaceful civilian life, on the other side showing his life in the trenches., Before the war Alfred Smith was a Nurseryman, so the use of an oak tree from his home County links well with his work. Alfred died in 1978 at the age of 92., The oak tree used for the sculpture fell in 2017. It was over 100 years old and was a much-loved part of the nearby allotments. The trunk was transported to a chainsaw carver (the Woodland Centre) in West Hoathly before being installed here in 2018., 'Here we fight, and here we die' , Adjacent to the site is a memorial stone to Colonel Wilfrith Elstob VC, DSO, MC of the Manchester Regiment. Wilfrith was born in Chichester in September 1888. His father, Canon Elstob, was Priest Vicar at Chichester Cathedral. He was appointed Vicar at All Saints Church, Siddington when the family moved to Cheshire and Wilfrith was just a new weeks old., Wilfrith Elstob was later educated at Christ's Hospital near Horsham. He gained a BA in 1909 and a teaching diploma in 1910. He then spent a year at the Lycée in Beauvais, France and a year at the Sorbonne in Paris. At the outbreak or World War One he left his teaching post and enlisted in the Public Schools Battalion and was subsequently offered a commission in the newly formed 1st Manchester Pals Battalion., Wilfrith was killed in action in March 1918 defending Manchester Hill and was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously in June 1919. His last message to the Brigade Commander was 'The Manchester Regiment will defend Manchester Hill to the last'. Shortly afterwards the remnants of the battalion were overcome by the enemy and Wilfrith was killed doing his duty in the manner he had impressed upon his men that. 'Here we fight, and here we die.', He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, France, at his places of education and on a stained glass window in All Saints Church, Siddington.