Five years after the end of World War I, a striking bronze statue was erected in Wick as a tribute to “the fallen sons of the Royal Burgh”. Since then, from its vantage point above Bridge Street, the elegant robed figure has gazed unflinchingly over the comings and goings of generations of Wickers and has acted as a focal point for the town's annual remembrance commemorations. By next week, it will have done so for a century.

The 8ft 9in memorial, a representation of Victory and Peace, had its unveiling ceremony on October 31, 1923, with thousands turning out to witness the occasion. A Johnston photograph shows a sea of heads, or rather a sea of military and naval headgear, along with men's bunnets and a few ladies' hats, angled towards the newly revealed statue as dignitaries stand around its granite base.

The memorial was designed by Percy Herbert Portsmouth, who had also been responsible for the one in Thurso, and was installed by the Wick firm of John Hood & Son. On the same day, a bronze memorial tablet gifted by the Seaforth Highlanders was unveiled at the front of the town hall.

“With befitting religious and military ceremony Wick War Memorial was unveiled on Wednesday afternoon by General Lord Horne of Stirkoke, GCB, KCMG, ADC,” the Groat reported on the Friday. “Following thereon the Seaforth Highlanders Memorial Tablet, which has been erected in front of the Town and County Hall, was unveiled by Major-General A Buchanan Ritchie, CB, CMG, commanding the 51st Division.

“Happily the weather conditions were favourable, and both ceremonials, arrangements for which had been carefully made beforehand, were carried out in a manner creditable and satisfactory to all concerned, and in presence of thousands of townspeople and many who attended from various parts of the county.”

The unnamed writer went on to give a vivid and admiring critique of the statue and its symbolism: “From an artistic point of view the whole figure is strong and expressive, particularly so the head, which admirably embodies the whole spirit of the memorial. The fine, heroic, firm, noble and purposeful countenance is inspiring – confidence in the triumph of the Right being shown in every line, whilst the arrogance of militarism in the German sense is conspicuous by its absence.”

Memories were clearly still raw about the battles Wick's fallen sons had fought from 1914-1918 and the local paper was not fully in a frame of mind to forgive and forget.

“The whole figure is strong in movement, full of hope, and the desire to achieve noble ends in conflict with the grosser elements that stimulate war,” the report went on.

“The statue, which is 8ft 9in in height, is a robed male figure representing Victory and Peace. A sheathed sword is held in the right hand with the point resting on the palm of the left hand and with an olive branch outstretched. This constitutes an interesting symbolism, stimulating as it does the idea that the sword has been used so that peace may be established and not merely for military glory or conquest.

"Broken implements of war beneath and behind the feet serve to express the fact that war is alien to higher instincts of humanity, having served their purpose in subduing and chastising the arrogance and aims of a military race raised to a pitch previously unknown in the history of the world.”

A number of setbacks had resulted in the war memorial being delayed. Concern about the time the project was taking had been evident in Wick for some months and as far back as June there were grumblings amongst the townspeople which had resulted in a writer for the John O'Groat Journal asking why the matter was taking so long, adding: "If there is no immediate further progress we shall have something pretty pungent to say on the matter in an early issue."

The date for the unveiling was then set for September 26 but the ceremony had to be postponed when it became clear that the memorial wouldn't be completed in time because of "the difficulty of securing from the quarries in Aberdeenshire a large enough block of flawless granite for the pedestal".

Some ex-servicemen, it is said, were against the idea altogether as they felt that the war was best forgotten.

Up it went, however. And now, 100 years on, it would be unthinkable for Wick not to have Percy Portsmouth’s much-admired tribute to Victory and Peace standing sentinel by the grassy slopes across from Caithness General Hospital. Panels surrounding the memorial list the names of those from the local area who gave their lives in both world wars.

In 2018 the statue underwent restoration – fittingly, by John Hood & Son – as part of a nationwide programme to refurbish and clean remembrance monuments to mark the centenary of the end of World War I. It was left looking immaculate: as good as new, and as "strong and expressive" as ever.

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Lord Thurso, the Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness, will be attending the Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Wick this year and will be laying the first wreath on behalf of the Crown.

As always, Provost Jan McEwan will be among those gathering to show their respects at 11am on Remembrance Sunday.

"I believe the war memorial is still very much as relevant today as it was 100 years ago," she said. "This is evidenced by the amazing turnout each year on Remembrance Sunday by the Wick community, as a mark of total respect for their forebears and relatives and what they did for us. Lest we forget."

Robbie Mackintosh's involvement in the Remembrance Sunday parade in Wick goes back 34 years and this will be his 10th year as parade commander on behalf of the Wick, Canisbay and Latheron branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland.

Mr Mackintosh said: "The war memorial serves to remind us of the horrors of two world wars and the surrounding panels show the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and did not return home.

"It is important that we still gather each year on Remembrance Sunday to remember and pay our respects to them and hopefully this will continue for generations to come."

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