Geograph - photograph every grid square

This steel sculpture of a war-weary soldier by Ray Lonsdale stands on the green at North Terrace, Seaham. At first on temporary location, funds were raised by local businesses and members of the community to enable it to remain on site permanently.

Locally nicknamed "Tommy", the official name is "1101" - that is, one minute after the armistice at the end of World War I. The artist was inspired to make the sculpture after seeing the memorial to a World War i hero in Murton (see NZ3847 : Memorial to William McNally).

The plaque on the plinth reads:

Now adrift in the wake of this glorious slaughter,
he'd seen many a soul cleansed in filthy water.

Seen godless men reach our for the Bible,
as lead tore the flesh from both friend and rival,

soon home to the joy and celebration of kin,
drunken slaps on the back at a favourite inn,

but heavy in his pocket lies a small piece of card,
and the note written on it will break a mother's heart.