For Wargrave Local History Society’s April meeting Mike Cooper came to tell us about Maiwand: the battle and the Great Game.
The Maiwand Lion statue stands in Reading’s Forbury Gardens.
It is well-known, and is seen as more just a memorial to those of the 66th Berkshire Regiment of Foot who died in the Second Afghan War.
It has also been part of the local football club away strip, has been a symbol for Reading Library, and became a symbol of unity following the stabbings that took place nearby.
The lion itself is hollow, and was made of cast iron in nine pieces weighing 16 tons.
The £1,088 that it cost (about £105,000 in today’s values) was raised by public subscription in 1886, the monument being designed by George Blackall Simonds, of the local brewery family.
Mike explained that the battle of Maiwand in July 1880, was part of a long-standing conflict in the region between the Russians and British India – known as the Great Game.
The British troops – a large proportion of whom were from the Berkshires, were vastly outnumbered, and suffered enormous losses.
Sadly, such conflicts have continued in the area – as Mike said “at each point we thought we could do this, but forgot that last time we got it wrong”.
For more detailed reports on these meetings, or information about the society, (including our events as part of the Wargrave Village Festival), visit our website at: www.wargravehistory.org.uk
PETER DELANEY
