The Monument
In 1920, a British war memorial was erected on the hill where the first surrender ceremony took place.
The three-metre high rectangular monument, similar in style to other British WWI memorials, was designed by the architect Wallcousins. It bore the date of December 9 (rather than 11), with the text:
Near this spot, the Holy City was surrendered to the 60th London Division, 9th December 1917. Erected by their comrades to those officers, NCOs and men who fell in fighting for Jerusalem.
The monument creates a silhouette resembling medieval knights, a reference to the comparison made at the time by many Britons between the 1917 conquest of Palestine and the crusades. An equestrian statue of Allenby was planned to stand on the pinnacle, but was never actually installed.
According to Israeli researcher Dov Genehovsky, the monument was built from the stones of the dismantled Ottoman clock tower which had been erected on top of the Jaffa Gate at the accession of the Sultan Abdul Hamid.
Read more about this topic: Allenby Square
Famous quotes containing the word monument:
“Their monument sticks like a fishbone
in the city’s throat.
Its Colonel is as lean
as a compass-needle.”
—Robert Lowell (1917–1977)
“I see his monument is still there.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)