Sacrifice Quadrant
From the dark earth below we look to a brighter future in the heavens above us
As of two thousand years ago, three crosses on a hill top represent the ultimate sacrifice, that of Jesus Christ. Here one cross bears a steel helmet - who does it adorn?
- Battlefields
- Amongst the dips and hollows of the battlefields lie soldiers - they died fighting for their beliefs - their spirits ascending to a better world.
- Poppies
- They grow aplenty in the fields, and Canadian doctor, John MaCrae serving near Ypres in 1915 wrote the famous poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’.
- Rivers Yser and Bradford
- Water courses run through every land. Around Ypres in the River Yser and Yser canal; in Youlgreave we have the Rivers Bradford and Lathkill.
- Soil and Earth
- Two panels in this quadrant contain soil. The lower one holds soil from what was ‘No Man’s Land’ between the fighting forces in August 1917 now arable fields dotted with well-tended cemeteries like Track X where Youlgreave soldier George Twyford now rests.
The other segment contains soil collected from the highest point in Youlgreave parish (1225 feet) near Arbor Low on 7 May 2018 103 years to the day since Rennie Waterhouse was killed some 1,590 miles away in Gallipoli. His name is recorded on the Helles Memorial and his memorial window in All Saints’ Church was the inspiration for this new memorial piece.
- The bi-plane
- A Sopwith Camel represents the gallantry of the pilots in The Royal Flying Corps as was, it became The Royal Air Force from 1 April 1918.
- The Carrier Pigeon
- Some of the communication ‘technology’ employed 100 years ago - though like modern day drones, this one carries a small camera.