Private Norman Harvey VC

We visited Mesnes Park in Newton le Willows today. There is a marvellous statue there of Private Norman Harvey erected to commemorate the centenary of him being awarded the Victoria Cross.

Norman Harvey VC (6 April 1899 – 16 February 1942) was the son of Charles William and Mary Harvey. He married Nora Osmond, and lived in Newton-le-Willows.

Harvey re-enlisted into the Royal Engineers in 1939 and joined 199 Railway Workshop Company. He was promoted to Company Quartermaster-Sergeant in April 1941. He was killed in action, near Haifa, Mandatory Palestine (now Israel) on 16 Feb 1942.

In World War One Harvey was 19 years old, and a Private in the 1st Battalion, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, British Army when on 25 October 1918 at Ingoyghem, Belgium, he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

On his own initiative he rushed forward and engaged the enemy single-handed, disposing of twenty enemy and capturing two guns. Later, when his company was checked by another enemy strong point, he again rushed forward alone and put the enemy to flight. Subsequently, after dark, he voluntarily carried out, single-handed, an important reconnaissance and gained valuable information. Pte. Harvey throughout the day displayed the greatest valour, and his several actions enabled the line to advance, saved many casualties, and inspired all.

In 2014, Newton and Earlestown Community Group and St Helens Council installed a "Remembrance Meadow" in Mesnes Park, Newton-le-Willows. As Norman Harvey VC had no local grave, a statue was erected in the centre of the Meadow in 2018 to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War.

This followed a £100,000 fundraising effort by the Newton and Earlestown Community Group in 2016 to create a memorial statue.
It is composed of everyday metal objects, workshop tools and pieces of small machines set on a concrete plinth into which two footprints have been cast, representing the man stepping forward to do his duty. On the front face of the wooden surround of the plinth is a plaque detailing the act for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Sandbags are lined up along the sides of the plinth. The statue was commissioned to mark both the centenary of the award of the medal on 25th October 1918, and the centenary of the Armistice weeks later.

It is a marvellous piece of work. I would like to see it later in the year against the background of the wild flower meadow.