Rescued: WW1 heroes’ own ‘Bayeux Tapestry’
1 in 500,000 discovery of epic art tribute to fallen comrades
A UNIQUE memorial to the fallen heroes of the First World War, created by their comrades who survived, has been rediscovered more than 30 years after it was last seen.
The 70ft canvas offers a firsthand view of the horrors of conflict and the day-to-day realities of life in the trenches, and has been compared by experts to the Bayeux Tapestry because of its scale and detail.
It was painted in 1923 by former soldiers of the 5th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment to commemorate those who never came home.
The battalion lost 20 per cent of its men – twice the national average – and nearly 1,000 are named on the artwork.
‘It represents the teardrops of a whole generation,’ said local historian Levison Wood, who discovered it among 500,000 items stored at the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, while he was researching a book about the battalion. The canvas had been wrongly labelled as a ‘tram map’ and had last been seen in 1985.
Mr Wood said it was recovered after ‘a bit of Agatha Christie detective work’ and added: ‘How it survived almost 100 years is beyond belief. It reminds us of the sacrifice these men made’.
The battalion took part in every major Western Front offensive and the banner depicts a panorama of the battlefields the soldiers fought on, including Ypres and Loos.
The demobbed servicemen had been working as potters, not painters, when they created the canvas, which the Imperial War Museum says is of international significance.
Abi Brown, deputy leader of Stoke-on-Trent Council, said: ‘I am utterly shocked by the discovery. I think it is fantastic. This will be a vital part of our history. We couldn’t ask for a more fitting tribute to the contribution of our industry, our people, our city and our county.’
A third of the canvas is now on display at the Potteries Museum while the rest is restored.
It is hoped to exhibit the entire artwork by 2021.