Park Guns and the Reedswood Tank: Walsall’s War Trophies Part 2

A photograph taken sometime after September 1925 and before 1935, as the two guns are located near the tank. (Walsall Local History Centre)

The story of the First World War trophies is, to me, one of love and hate: originally, I believe, they were seen as morale boosting and acceptable, however, after the conflict I believe they became an embarrassment as the same gamut of opinion arose that saw the removal of the Russian guns in the 1870s. The trophies began to dwindle, but it would be World War Two that would see the ultimate demise of the remaining trophies in Walsall and Bloxwich as it did in many other places in the country… https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/walsall/park-guns-and-the-reedswood-tank-walsalls-war-trophies-part-2/

The Russian Guns: The Story of Walsall’s War Trophies Part 1

The Russian Guns, plinth, clock, fountain and the George Hotel c1870. (Walsall Local History Centre)

This article seeks to link into the first of the Walsall Local History Centre exhibitions by telling the stories of the fate of the two sets of war trophies that were acquired by the old Borough of Walsall (in essence, Walsall and Bloxwich). The first war trophies, which forms part 1 of the article and takes in a piece written by Meikle, were the Crimean cannon that were once located on the Bridge in Walsall; the second set of trophies, which forms part 2, were gifted to the people of Walsall after the Great War some 60 years later. 60 years may have elapsed between the two conflicts, but as I investigated the stories behind the trophies it seemed to me that their fates were very similar… https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/walsall/russian-cannon-the-story-of-walsalls-war-trophies-part-1/