'Pity Of War' by Peter Walker, sculptor and artist Photo: courtesy of The Pity of War Project
‘The project is a symbolic and practical expression of the Quaker peace testimony.’
Art of the possible: The Pity of War trustees on a memorial project
In winter 1940-41 twelve-year-old Joyce Gee came face-to-face with death. She was caught in the blitz. Anti-aircraft fire and falling bombs made the world a ‘hell of noise’; explosions rocked her shelter; a nearby house vanished into rubble. Her neighbours were killed. Joyce survived, but the memories never left her.
In 2013, by then a grandmother, Joyce visited the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) for the opening of the memorial to the Friends’ Ambulance Unit and Friends’ Relief Service. It was a place of vivid memory and of jarring absence: Joyce was outraged by the lack of any memorial to civilian non-combatants.
This impression gave rise to a concern, tested and taken to Meeting for Sufferings by Southern Marches, Joyce’s Area Meeting: to set up a memorial at the NMA to civilian death and suffering in warfare. To give visible expression to the pity of war. With Sufferings’ support, a small working group set out to develop the project.
The first point of enquiry was the NMA itself. Its governing body was pleased to welcome the proposal. The project was officially accepted and a site indicated, not far from the FAU/FRS memorial. The NMA also told the working group of a similar initiative, associated with nearby Lichfield Cathedral and its artist-in-residence, sculptor Peter Walker. Peter had already been inspired by this grandfather to create Silent Victims of War. Discussions with Peter made good progress, and culminated in an agreement to work together.
The form of the new project is a bronze sculpture. An associated website and resource pack will take the issues of war and civilian suffering into the wider community. While Peter and his partner have designed the sculpture and set up the web presence, this remains a Quaker project, for which we share editorial control and financial responsibility.
It is also an important vehicle of outreach, enabling us to publicise Quaker values. Adrian Dorber (the dean of Lichfield Cathedral), Diana Francis (who gave the 2015 Swarthmore Lecture), Clive Stafford Smith (founder of Reprieve) and Joyce’s son Paul are patrons.
Three bronze copies of the memorial maquette have been on a tour of UK cathedrals, seen by tens of thousands of people. Copies are on permanent display at University Church Oxford, Chester Cathedral and the British Embassy in Dubai. A statue is being installed outside the city of Limburg an der Lahn in Germany. A maquette was also exhibited at the Hay Festival.
Joyce Gee died in October 2018. The Pity of War project is now a charity. The website invites public input and collaboration, and will be used with schools and communities to promote awareness and debate. The project will be launched on Hiroshima Day (6 August), an event encapsulating the horror of war like no other. The project is a symbolic and practical expression of the Quaker peace testimony.
See www.pityofwar.com for more information.
