The Durham Light Infantry Memorial - Durham Market Place, Durham, Co.Durham.
Posted by: 
greysman
N 54° 46.636 W 001° 34.535
30U E 591618 N 6070936
A Bugler in Korean War combat clothing is the centre-piece of this memorial to the D.L.I.
Waymark Code: WMN4C5
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 12/24/2014
Views: 5
This memorial to the D.L.I. is one of two, the other is in the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire dedicated in July 2012 at a service attended by Princess Alexandra.
This memorial, with the statue based on a photograph of the then 18-year old Colour Sgt. Brandon Mulvey, from Chester-le-Street, was sculpted by Edinburgh artist Alan Beattie Herriot, DA ARBS. It symbolises the moment after the infantry buglers sounded the ceasefire in Korea in 1953. At a cost of £75,000 the bronze sculpture mirrors the one at the National Arboretum and was dedicated on 14th September, 2014. It is in the busy Market Square in front of St Nicholas' Church, the bronze statue mounted on a chamfered top block of sandstone and on a square chamfered top sandstone plinth.
The main dedication has been inscribed into the block and reads:-
1758 Cap Badge 1968
THE
DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY
DEDICATED TO ALL
WHO SERVED IN THE REGIMENT
AND IN MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM
FAITHFUL
According to the plaque on the left side of the sandstone block of the memorial:-
THE DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY
The Regiment's long connection with County
Durham goes back to 1758 when the 68th
Regiment of Foot came into being with John
Lambton (whose family came from the County)
as its first Colonel. In 1808 it became the third
regiment to be converted into light infantry,
tasked with skirmishing ahead of the line,
responding to commands given by the bugle
and not the drum. Hence the cap badge.
In 1881 the link with the County was formally
recognised with the 68th becoming the 1st
battalion and the 106th (formally the 2nd
Bombay European Light Infantry) the 2nd
battalion of The Durham Light Infantry.
This local link was reinforced by two militia
(post 1908 Special Reserve) and five volunteer
(post 1908 Territorial) battalions. It was World
War One however, in which 37 battalions served
and 12,006 members of the Regiment were
killed, that turned this link into the exceptional
bond between County and Regiment that so
characterised it during the remainder of its
existence.
During World War Two the Regiment fought in
every theatre of the war, most notably in Burma
and, under Field Marshal Montgomery, from
El Alamein to the Rhine.
During the 210 years of its existence the
Regiment won 38 Battle Honours and 11 of its
members earned the Victoria Cross.
In 1968 the Regiment joined the other Light
Infantry Regiments to form The Light Infantry
which in 2007 was incorporated into a newly
formed regiment, The Rifles.
The brass plaque on the right-hand side of the base tells something of the 'why a Bugler':- THE STATUE
The Bugler, in combat clothing
worn in the Korean War,
reflects the central role the
Regimental buglers played in
the Regiment's history;
that 'Korea' was the final
Battle Honour awarded
to the Regiment; and that
the buglers of the 1st Battalion
The Durham Light Infantry
sounded the Cease Fire for the
Korean War on 27th July 1953
from a hill top in the front line.
The bugler is carrying
a rifle to show he is still,
first and foremost, a rifleman.
This is one of a pair of memorials
to the Regiment, the other being at
the National Memorial Arboretum.
A quote by Montgomery of Alamein is recorded on the rear of the base:- "There may be some Regiments / as good but I know of none better"