Tirah Memorial facts for kids
The Tirah Memorial is a special monument in Bonn Square, Oxford, England. It remembers soldiers from the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire Light Infantry. These brave soldiers died in 1897 and 1898 during a military mission. This mission was called the Tirah Expedition and Punjab Frontier Campaign. They were working to stop rebel tribes in a region of British India known as the North West Frontier.
History of the Oxford Memorial
The Tirah Memorial was officially revealed in 1900. It was the very first war memorial ever built in Oxford.
A person named Inigo Thomas designed this important monument. It is shaped like an obelisk, which is a tall, four-sided pillar that gets narrower at the top. The memorial stands about 25 feet (7.6 meters) tall. Its foundations go deep into the ground, about 20 feet (6.1 meters).
The memorial was built in a public garden. This garden used to be the graveyard for the St Peter-le-Bailey church. Today, this area is known as Bonn Square. When workers dug the foundations for the memorial, they found some old human remains. These remains were carefully moved and re-buried at Osney Cemetery, which is about 1.2 miles (1.9 kilometers) away.
The Tirah Memorial is considered a Grade II listed building. This means it is an important historical building that needs to be protected.
Other Tirah Memorials
The Tirah Expedition was a big event, and other memorials were built to remember soldiers who died.
- Soldiers from the Dorset Regiment who died during the Tirah Expedition are remembered in Dorchester, Dorset, southern England. Their memorial is in Borough Gardens.
- Men from the King's Own Scottish Borderers also died during the expedition. They are remembered on a memorial at North Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland.
- Soldiers from the Royal Sussex Regiment who died during the Tirah Expedition have a memorial in Eastbourne, East Sussex, southeast England.
