MonoMonday: "Old"

TheAphid is kindly hosting MonoMonday this month, and has suggested “Old” as the theme for today.
 
This War Memorial, known as “The Response”, stands in The Haymarket in Newcastle. As of November 2014 it has had Grade 1 Listed status. It depicts a column of WW1 soldiers marching off to the front, with loved ones taking their leave. It conveys a mix of emotions – of patriotism, excitement and distress at parting. One can see a drummer boy leading the men: some of whom are in uniform and carry guns, others are in flat caps and carry tools. A boy at the back is carrying his father’s kit bag. The angel, known as the figure of Renown, is blowing a horn. Beneath the men is the motto “Non Sibi Sed Patriae” (“Not for himself but for his country”).
 
The memorial was unveiled in July 1923 by the then Prince of Wales, so by British standards it isn’t very old. I chose it because so many of the brave men who went to war for our benefit sadly never had the opportunity to grow old. And at risk of being political (and I’m not a historian so maybe I shouldn’t comment) one can argue that the fact that the war took place at all, with such horrendous casualties, was the result of old men behaving like spoilt children.