For the artist Ray Lonsdale, formerly a steel worker from Durham, Sculpture has always been his passion. Taking 13 weeks to complete, Ray describes “Freddie” as a three dimensional freehand steel sketch. Every piece was cut, shaped and welded by hand without the use of computer technology.
The sculpture was sited in North Bay Scarborough for a four-week period, a resident started fundraising to keep Freddie here. With only days to go, a local resident, Maureen Robinson decided to buy Freddie. She was quoted as saying she really appreciated not only the craftsmanship, but also the sentiment behind the artwork. Wanting to share the experience, she gifted it to the people of Scarborough for their enjoyment and that of visitors.
Freddie
Fred Gilroy was born in County Durham in 1921. One of 6 children, His father was a miner and life was hard in the poor mining community, Fred followed his father down the mine and also joined the Territorial Army.
When war came in 1939 he was immediately called up; for the majority of the time he was a gunner in the Royal Artillery but towards the end of the war became a Regimental Police Officer.
On 15 April 1945 The British Armoured division took the surrender of a concentration camp 30 miles south of Hamburg known as Bergen Belsen. They could smell the stench of rotting bodies from 3 miles away. The camp was riddled with typhus, dysentery and tuberculosis. More than 20,000 naked emancipated bodies were discovered and of the 50,000 inmates remaining despite receiving food and medical help a further 13,000 died. A month after its liberation Fred “celebrated” his 24th birthday.
Fred was an ordinary man. Like millions of other soldiers from all over the world he was drawn into a worldwide conflict where he made friends only to see many of them due. He fought an enemy he rarely saw and in those six years created memories he would rather have forgotten.
Fred was a kind and loving man who made friends easily and who displayed warmth that Ray Lonsdale has captured in the sculpture
