As some of you may know, I’ve been working on an art installation with Arc to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War.
There will be hundreds of ‘dream’ boxes from local children, adults and artists depicting their dreams and aspirations.
Ten of the boxes, (of which mine is one), will honour the life of a Stockport soldier who lost his (or her), life.
The point of these ten boxes is to honour these people as human beings who had lives outside of being a soldier. In fact, this is what made up the vast majority of their lives. And they had dreams and aspirations too. What would have become of them?
The soldier I picked lived locally to me in Heaton Mersey. His name was Herbert Jackson. He worked for Cheshire Lines Railway in Cheadle Heath and played several instruments in the Heaton Mersey Prize Band.
He was due home on leave in the Spring of 1918 to marry his fiance. Unfortunately, his leave was cancelled due to the massive German Spring Offensive of March and April. He was wounded by artillery fire on the 26th April and was moved to a Casualty Clearing Station where he died the following day aged 25. He is buried in Haringhe (Bandaghem ) Military Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium.
The letter, (which rests on top of the box), is not real. It is something I thought Herbert might have written to his fiance whilst in hospital. Tonally, however, it is based on actual letters from a friend of mine’s grandfather who fought on the Somme.
The ‘Princess Mary’ tin, which was given to all soldiers I imagined would contain mementos of his fiance, such as a lock of her hair.
For me, Herbert’s dream for the future was to come back to the two things he loved most – his fiance, and music.
The sheet music, which lines the interior of the box, is by J.S. Bach and the lyrics are in German. Whilst I doubt that Herbert would have spoken German, they would share the common language of music.
This tribute is to honour the life of Herbert Jackson and all the other men, women and children from every nation, who died in the First World War, and to what futures there might have been.
The We Are Dreamers 2018 exhibition opens on the 11th November, 2018 at the Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery.
Private Herbert Jackson’s biography details were provided courtesy of http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk/
David Milligan-Croft
Thereisnocavalry 
It is such a wonderful project. When you realise that these people were alive, had passions, disappointments, success, you look at the history of wars differently – as a tremendous waste of life, rather than a mere a date in the history book.
Couldn’t agree more. We’re all just canon fodder to a privileged few.
Yes, it has always been this way. Old ‘few” send the young to die.
Beautiful project honoring those brave men who gave their lives so those”Old few” could prosper. If the instigators had to lead the battle, as happened once upon a time, there would be fewer crying “Havoc!”