We were among a few who went down to the Falklands Yomper on Armistice Day at the 11th hour to pay our respects, and who took the short walk to the memorial garden in the grounds of the former Royal Marines barracks and museum. It’s good to have it regularly confirmed in the cold light of day that the Yomper is still in place - and that the plan to relocate him from his position atop his mound overlooking the Solent remains mercifully shelved - at least for now.
Iconic photograph from Falkland Islands, of Royal Marine Peter Robinson. The march (yomp) to Port Stanley, May 1982. Credit: Imperial War Museum archives
The Yomper’s location is steeped in history and memory - something of a sacred place for all sorts of reasons. When Royal Marine Peter Robinson, whose iconic image was the inspiration for the statue, met Margaret Thatcher at the opening ceremony she reportedly said to him with uncharacteristic modesty and perception, ‘They have not come to see me, they want to see you come on’.
The Royal Marines Museum at Eastney Barracks closed in 2017, deemed uneconomic and no longer fit for purpose. The Yomper was then supposed to be relocated inside the new museum inside the historic dockyard, and there was even a call for him to be moved to Plymouth; but a grassroots movement in Portsmouth and beyond stopped that happening.
The future however is uncertain. The National Museum of the Royal Navy is underfunded and reeling from the after-effects of Covid on its income streams, and the sale of the Eastney Barracks has been an integral part of its business plan in Portsmouth.
The Memorial Garden, (former) Eastney Barracks of the Royal Marines, Portsmouth
It is a condition of sale of the Eastney Barracks site that the memorial garden remains and is open to the public. I think the same should apply to the Yomper. The Falklands War is the first war in which this country was a combatant that I truly, vividly remember. Whatever my mixed feelings about the politics and tabloid coverage of that war, I don’t think it’s right that beautiful monuments that were erected and consecrated in good faith by marines like Corporal Peter Robinson - whose life was far from easy after he left the military - should be taken away for display elsewhere because it’s expedient for a business plan. As we approach the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War, the Yomper is certainly going to be ‘hot property’.
Meanwhile, between the barracks and the briny the Yomper remains, at the edge of Portsmouth’s sweeping wild shingle beach reaching out into the Solent; until the next bright spark comes along and decides to take a piece of sacred, salted memory and put it in an indoor place where it doesn’t belong.
The Yomper on Armistice Day 2021, 11am, under a brooding Solent sky. Sculptor: Philip Jackson. Foreground: landing craft.
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