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ALUMNI NEWSintegral metal plaque inscribed with the words,‘Remember the men and women of the Armed andAuxiliary Forces who have lost their lives in times andplaces of conflict since the Second World War’, is in theabbey’s south cloister. In his address to those present atthe service, the Dean of Westminster, the Very ReverendDr John Hall, spoke of how ‘it is right and fitting toremember, in itself a good’ because a ‘society that nolonger remembers is a society out of touch with itself,living only for the present, with no map or compass,lacking any sense of direction’.In a statement about the work that was released at thetime of its unveiling, Tom explained howThis memorial takes the form of a text (adapted fromthat provided by the Armed Services Memorial committee)worked in welded steel so that the letters of which it ismade support and strengthen each other in free space.With this structured interdependence and the presence ofsteel, the generic material of ordnance, a military metaphoris tacitly present. This is symbolically reinforced by theoverall covering given to the metal which is made up fromearth gathered world-wide (with the assistance of travellingfriends) from various sites of conflict. These date from 1066(Battle itself) via Agincourt, the Somme and onwards to thepresent day. Fifteen such earth samples were mixed andground together to make a pigment bound in colourlessacrylic resin. Thus, in an echo of Rupert Brooke’s famouspoem, ‘some corner(s) of a foreign field’ are brought to anappropriate place to indicate the long ancestry of nationalcourage. The not unexpected resemblance in colour andgranular texture to rust could be thought quietly to voicethe artist’s hope of an ultimate peace.... ‘Rememberthe men andwomen ofthe Armedand AuxiliaryForces whohave lost theirlives in timesand places ofconflict sincethe SecondWorld War’ ...Servicemen reflectbefore the new memorialPhotograph © Picture PartnershipST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE 2008/35