TWO artists from Alcester have created a lifesize tribute to a soldier buried in a Commonwealth War grave at Holy Trinity Church in Arrow.
‘The Silent Sentinel’ was created by Rob Hewitt and Jane Cornwall to pay tribute to gunner Percy Knight, a local farm labourer from Cookhill.
He was wounded and died in Burdon Military Hospital Weymouth, just 24 days before the First World War ended.
Rob and Jane said: “We wanted to remember and honour Percy who, at the age of 21, went from tilling the fields to serving in the Great War
“As his human form emerged from the rolls of mesh, it felt like he became a tangible person who had lived and breathed and died for his country and for the people he cared the most, his family.”
For Rob and Jane it was very much a labour of love, involving literally blood, sweat and tears.
They added: “Often, fingers would be bleeding from the sharp, jagged edges of cut wire and tears of frustration from wrestling with unyielding material which seemed to have a will of its own.
“However, we voiced at the time how minute and insignificant our pain was in comparison to the agony and suffering experienced by so many in the First and Second World Wars.
“We would speak to him and handle him reverently, which may sound odd, but he was and still is, very real to us.
“Speaking to his great niece, Angela Downie, and seeing his photograph, we discovered more about Percy’s wartime experiences.
“We hope to have done Percy justice in this homage to him in steel, which reflects the mettle of those who fought for peace”.
Tragedy further struck the Knight family with both Percy’s younger brother, little George, aged nine, and his sister Edith, 22, dying within months of each other.
Their names are inscribed alongside Percy’s on his headstone.
Rob and Jane’s tribute was inspired by the 2018, ‘Ghost Soldiers’ by Jackie Lantelli.
The Remembrance Service will be held at 9am on Sunday, November 9, at the church.
Local poet, Jacqueline Hughes-Williams has penned a poem, ‘Knight Fall’, which she will recite during the service.
Everyone is welcome to attend and view the exhibition, films and displays in the church. Refreshments will be served from 10.30am until 4pm.
The wire sculpture will remain in place until Sunday November 16.
