Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers
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54°17′24″N 0°24′09″W / 54.2899°N 0.4024°W
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Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers is a statue by sculptor Ray Lonsdale which overlooks North Bay of Scarborough, England. Made from weathering steel, the sculpture depicts Freddie Gilroy, a former soldier who participated in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, sitting on a bench in his old age. Gilroy was a friend of the sculptor and Lonsdale made the piece partly as a tribute to him, but also as a wider war and Holocaust memorial. Originally intended to sit on the seafront as a 4-week loan in 2011, a local resident donated money to purchase the sculpture for the town.[1]
Gilroy and the bench are sculpted at twice lifescale, making the figure almost 11 feet (3.5 m) in length.[2] The sculpture, fabricated of weathering Corten steel, took artist Lonsdale three months to make.[3][4][5] Gilroy, a South Hetton brickmaker and colliery worker, served with the Royal Artillery during the Second World War and became one of the first Allied troops to help liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945. He died in November 2008.[1][6]
Lonsdale created the sculpture as a commercial piece but also as a memorial to Gilroy and soldiers in general.[7] The sculpture contains no mention of the connection with Belsen or the war, and at first appearance is just an old man sitting on a bench.[8] Gilroy occupies one seat on the bench which, despite its height, offers visitors an opportunity to sit next to him.[9] A plaque is placed in the front centre of the bench, in common with memorial benches elsewhere on the seafront.[9] Text on the plaque includes a poem written by Lonsdale:[8][5]
"Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers"They said for king and country
we should do as we were bid
They said old soldiers never die -
but plenty young ones didSculpture by Ray Lonsdale
in association with Artsbank (Saltburn)
Victoria Nesfield of the University of York, in her review of the piece said that "it occupies an unusual place between memorialization and art".[8] She noted that by offering a space for people to sit and pose with Gilroy Lonsdale has created a sculpture unlike most other holocaust memorials.[10] The term "Belsen stragglers" is a phrase used at the time of the liberation to describe the survivors of the camp.[8] The sculpture has been described as "much loved by people in the town".[11]