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Victoria Cross hero to be immortalised in bronze

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A SCULPTOR from Great Totham is immortalising a war hero who won a Victoria Cross to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War.

John Doubleday, 65, has undertaken a year-long project to create a life-size statue of Private Herbert Columbine, who won the highest decoration for military valour for the bravery he showed fighting off a German attack in Hervilly, France.

The bronze sculpture of Herbert will be erected in Walton-on-the-Naze on August 2, 2014, and his war medals, including the Victoria Cross, were handed over to Chelmsford Museum in Moulsham Street on Tuesday.

Mr Doubleday said: "These are the people that we should all remember. They gave the most any human can give. It thrills me to think that for years to come people will walk past this statue and they will see Herbert.

"It's a fitting way to remember someone that truly made a difference. I know it's been 100 years but he should never be forgotten."

The statue of Herbert George Columbine will be the only sculpture erected in 2014, and he is the only private being immortalised in this way.

"I wanted to represent Herbert the way that he should be remembered, standing valiantly.

"Although he was only a private he made the ultimate sacrifice, and these are the people that should be remembered," said Mr Doubleday.

Michael Turner, of the Columbine Statue fund, said: "It's the only statue to commemorate a soldier in this way, and the people of Essex should be proud.

" I've been campaigning for this for a long time and we should all be proud of a fantastic man."

Mr Doubleday has previously sculpted Nelson Mandela, The Beatles and has painted Lord Mountbatten, but the Herbert Columbine sculpture holds a special place in his heart because his uncle, Donald Dean, was in the very same regiment – the 9th Squadron, the Machine Gun Corps.

"My uncle fought alongside Herbert and they faced unimaginable horrors, knowing my uncle gave me a great insight into Herbert and the type of man that he was.

"To me it doesn't matter if I'm doing a very personal project like this one or any other project, I try to approach every sculpture the same way, you take people as you find them and you just try to be as accurate as possible.

"I try to get inside the character, and create a truly truthful resemblance," said John.

Herbert George Columbine was born on November 28, 1893 in Chelsea, London, son of Herbert and Emma Columbine. Herbert's father was killed in the Boer War leaving Emma alone after the war, and in 1900 Herbert moved to Walton and joined the army in 1911 aged just 14.

Alone, and from an exposed position, Columbine held off wave after wave of Germans in their last-ditch onslaught at Hervilly Wood, France, in March 1918, firing continuously for four hours before he was killed by an aircraft bomb.

During the action it is reported that Herbert acknowledged that defending the area was a job for one man.

He is said to have told the two remaining members of his unit to get away. Despite being bombed on either side, he kept firing his gun, inflicting losses, until he was killed by a bomb dropped from an enemy plane.

Dr PGC Atkinson, who was a witness to Herbert's bravery said at the time: "The heroic fight of Columbine was not without its value, for the way in which he delayed the enemy attack gave us time to consolidate our position in the immediate neighbourhood, and when the enemy attacked, they found that the four hours stand by this one man had put the German's plans hopelessly out of gear so far as capture of that series of positions was concerned.

"The comrades of the dead hero speak highly of him."

Captain MacAndrews, commanding 9th MG Squadron, wrote in a letter to Herbert's mother Emma: "In your loss of such a gallant son, you have the very deepest sympathy of everyone in this squadron, where he used to be so extremely popular.

"We all sincerely trust that your great sorrow may be to some extent lessened by your pride of his noble death, so noble that the King has honoured him with the very highest award."

Although £41,000 has been raised by the Columbine statue fund, it is still in need of a further £11,000 to complete the project, please contact the fund on 01255 677088 to donate.

Victoria Cross hero to be immortalised in bronze


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