1758 - 1968
[Cap badge of the Durham Light Infantry]
THE DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

DEDICATED TO ALL WHO SERVED IN THE REGIMENT
AND IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM

FAITHFUL

The sculpture of a bugler from the Durham Infantry, by Alan Beattie Herriot, was installed in 2012 and depicts the moment the trumpet blast was sounded after the Korean War Armistice in 1953.

The statue was photographed on the same day by the same photographer Click for a larger image

The following plaques appear on the different sides of the statue’s base:
THE DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

The Regiment’s long connection with County Durham goes back to 1758 when the 68th Regiment of Foot came into being with John Lambton (whose family came from the County) as its first Colonel. In 1808 it became the third regiment to be converted into light infantry, tasked with skirmishing ahead of the line, responding to commands given by the bugle and not the drum. Hence the cap badge.

In 1881 the link with the County was formally recognised with the 68th becoming the 1st battalion and the 106th (formerly the 2nd
Bombay European Light Infantry) the 2nd battalion of The Durham Light Infantry.
This local link was reinforced by two militia (post 1908 Special Reserve) and five volunteer (post 1908 Territorial) battalions. It was World War One however, in which 37 battalions served and 12,006 members of the Regiment were killed, that turned this link into the exceptional bond between County and Regiment that so characterised it during the remainder of its existence.

During World War Two the Regiment fought in every theatre of the war, most notably in Burma and, under Field Marshall Montgomery, from El Alamein to the Rhine.

During the 210 years of its existence the Regiment won 38 Battle Honours and 11 of its members earned the Victoria Cross.

In 1968 the Regiment joined the other Light Infantry Regiments to form The Light Infantry which in 2007 was incorporated into a newly formed regiment, The Rifles.
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Above the previous plaque describing the history of the regiment, and on the base of the statue is the name of the sculptor:
Scripted by
ALAN BEATTIE HERRIOT DA.ARBS
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"There may be some Regiments as good but I know of none better"

Montgomery of Alamein
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THE STATUE

The Bugler, in combat clothing worn in the Korean War, reflects the central role the Regimental buglers played in the Regiment’s history; that ’Korea’ was the final Battle Honour awarded to the Regiment; and that the buglers of the 1st Battalion The Durham Light Infantry sounded the Cease Fire for the Korean War in 27th July 1953 from a hill top in the front line.
The bugler is carrying a rifle to show he is still, first and foremost, a rifleman.
This is one of a pair of memorials to the Regiment, the other being at the National Memorial Arboretum.
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