War Memorial Research Articles

Memory Wars: Settlers and Natives Remember Washington's Sullivan Expedition of 1779 by A. Lynn Smith (review)

Memory Wars: Settlers and Natives Remember Washington's Sullivan Expedition of 1779 by A. Lynn Smith (review)

The Soundscape of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk as a Memory Apparatus

Abstract: This article presents an analysis of the soundscape of the permanent exhibition at the Second World War Museum in Gdańsk, an aspect that has received less attention in the scholarship. The exhibition and its soundscape are considered here as memory apparatuses, whose function is to disseminate and co-create national and transnational memory of the Second World War, while also relating visitors to the past and situating them within a remembering community. Highlighting "sonic icons" and sound mnemotopoi as constituent components of the exhibition, the article examines the role of the exhibition's sound layer in constructing its visitors' affective recipient experience.

Records and Memories of the Vietnam War: Focusing on the Dinh Q. Lê

Records and Memories of the Vietnam War: Focusing on the Dinh Q. Lê

Sutjeska Memorial Park (1958–75): Yugoslav World War II Memorial Complexes and Embodied Strategies for Solidarity

ABSTRACT This article investigates the expansion of World War II memorial sites in socialist Yugoslavia, with a focus on the Sutjeska Memorial Park in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Beginning in the early 1960s, a new typology of memorial complexes emerged, merging domestic tourism and commemoration. These sites operated as forms of social infrastructure that provided ground not solely for the remembrance of the historical events of the War but for enabling solidaristic sentiments required to prevent its resurgence. The Sutjeska Memorial Park exemplifies how artists and architects experimented with new forms to produce embodied affective strategies to engage new generations without personal war memories. Expanded memorial parks attempted to evoke somatic responses to fascist horror while using new tourist amenities to stimulate a sense of significance across diverse generational and cultural communities. Drawing on archival materials and the formal elements of Sutjeska’s monuments, this research examines understudied sites that produced immersive environments intended to open the realm of visual experience to other embodied possibilities and to instil new cultural practices of comradeship and commemoration. This paper illustrates how the design of the Sutjeska Memorial Park as social infrastructure facilitates its continued function today despite Yugoslavia’s dissolution, maintaining much of its original antifascist character.

Searching for John Knox: Heritage Entanglements in Gamilaroi Country

ABSTRACT This essay discusses a road trip through Gamilaroi Country in regional New South Wales, “in search of” Pte. John Knox, an Aboriginal serviceman who is buried at Singapore’s Kranji War Cemetery. It shares insights into Australia’s multilayered heritage “entanglements” learned while travelling with his grandson, Les Knox, to their hometown, the Toomelah Aboriginal Community on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. Written collaboratively as an account of places encountered episodically during this shared journey, the essay describes the many suppressed layers of First Peoples’ memory and memorialisation that are drawn to the surface by storytelling. They are obscured by the more visible and prominent settler heritage of war memorials and ex-military migrant camps. The first part of this article traces John Knox’s training in Australia and service in Malaya through maps conjectured using various sources. The second part of the essay focuses on three key physical sites: The Toomelah War Memorial, the Myall Creek Massacre Memorial Site and the 1965 Freedom Ride, where this heritage manifests. It raises deeper questions on the “politics of sharing:” how we define and commemorate “conflict,” how and when we acknowledge Aboriginal service people and whether we connect to the Asia Pacific region.

Co-designing inclusive war memorials for metaphoric symbolism

This article profiles the development of the Melbourne Korean War Memorial and shows how a memorial can provide a sense of inclusion by considering symbolism in all aspects of design. We argue that through metaphoric symbolism we can demonstrate a contemporary memorial as an educational tool for all visitors and future generations, while honouring the sacrifice of servicemen and women. We focus on co-design research to examine how facilitated engagement with multiple stakeholders plays a fundamental role in conceiving cultural objects within an urban context, and demonstrate meaning by reflecting on the design, engineering and construction of the Melbourne Korean War Memorial.

Review: Memory Wars: Settlers and Natives Remember Washington’s Sullivan Expedition of 1779, by A. Lynn Smith

Review: <i>Memory Wars: Settlers and Natives Remember Washington’s Sullivan Expedition of 1779</i>, by A. Lynn Smith

Hero's Legacy: Martial Strength and Race in Republican Chile

This article examines the Roto Chileno war memorial in downtown Santiago as a complex site of Chilean identity making in the republican era. Conflating two separate nineteenth-century military victories over the combined forces of Bolivia and Peru, the memorial was a physical manifestation of an intricate process of identity construction that celebrated the mestizo heritage of average citizen-soldiers while also emphasizing the idea that Chileans were racially superior compared to other South American nations. The memorial being dedicated specifically to the roto, a mutable racialized term that can be perceived as pejorative even in the present, is therefore an especially evocative example of how this conceptual combination was visually rendered to access elements of white identity. Using fine art media coverage, this article highlights the entangled relationship between memory, nationalism, and race in late nineteenth-century Latin America to consider the role that militarism and masculinity play in the construction of whiteness.

Investigating hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count in preeclampsia: A case-control study in Ghana.

Preeclampsia poses a heightened risk for women, particularly in the development of hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets (HELLP) syndrome, leading to adverse outcomes for both mothers and newborns. The incidence of HELLP syndrome tends to be notably higher among women with preeclampsia compared with those with normotensive pregnancies. However, there is a dearth of research on the frequency of HELLP syndrome within the context of preeclampsia specifically in Ghana. Furthermore, the potential predictive value of serum erythrocyte adenylate kinase (EAK), a marker of hemolysis, in anticipating the onset of preeclampsia remains largely unexplored. Conducted between May 2020 and April 2022, this research employed a case-control methodology at the War Memorial and Upper East Regional Hospitals. A total of 291 pregnant women participated, comprising 111 diagnosed with preeclampsia and 180 control subjects, aged between 18 and 43 years. Venous blood samples were collected and subjected to analysis for platelet count, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and EAK, utilizing automated analyzers, alongside the ELISA technique. Diagnosis of HELLP syndrome was established using the Mississippi triple-class definition. The median serum ALT level (with interquartile range) was significantly elevated in the preeclampsia group compared with controls [20.0 (13.7-27.0) vs. 13.0 (9.4-18.6); p < 0.001]. Moreover, the frequency of Mississippi class 3 HELLP syndrome was notably higher among preeclampsia cases (2/111; 1.8%) compared with controls (1/180; 0.6%). Serum ALT emerged as the superior predictor of preeclampsia, outperforming LDH (with an area under the curve of 0.73 compared with 0.58). The sensitivity and specificity of ALT were measured at 47.8% and 87.2%, respectively. Although the occurrence of HELLP syndrome in preeclampsia cases appears relatively low, it may escalate as the prevalence of preeclampsia is anticipated to rise in low and middle-income nations.

Common Arterial Trunk Repair at the Red Cross War Memorial Hospital, Cape Town: A 20-Year Review of Surgical Practice and Outcomes.

This study describes the 20-year experience of managing common arterial trunk (CAT) in a low-and-middle-income country and compares the early and medium-term outcomes following the transition from conduit to nonconduit repair at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital. Single-center retrospective study of consecutive patients aged less than 18 years who underwent repair of CAT from January 1999 to December 2018 at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital. Patients with interrupted aortic arch or previous pulmonary artery banding were excluded. Fifty-four patients had CAT repair during the study period. Thirty-four (63.0%) patients had a conduit repair, and 20 (37.0%) patients had a nonconduit repair. There were two intraoperative deaths. Thirty-day in-hospital mortality was 22.2% (12/54). Overall, in-hospital mortality was 29.6% (16/54). Eight (21.1%) late mortalities were observed. The actuarial survival for the conduit group was 77.5%, 53.4%, and 44.5% at 6, 12, and 27 months, respectively, and the nonconduit group was 58.6% at six months. The overall freedom from reoperation between the conduit group and nonconduit group was 66.2% versus 86.5%, 66.2% versus 76.9%, and 29.8% versus 64.1% at 1, 2, and 8 years, respectively. The outcomes following the transition to nonconduit repair for CAT in a low- and middle-income setting appear to be encouraging. There was no difference in mortality between conduit and nonconduit repairs, and importantly the results suggest a trend toward lower reintervention rates.

Embedded memory wars: Italy’s 2019 Armenian Genocide recognition

Scholars often associate the political instrumentalisation of memory with right-wing populists. But this focus somewhat obscures the fact that elected officials across the political spectrum instrumentalise memory in their efforts to shape perceptions and influence behaviours. In fact, the success of memory laws often depends on the fact that MPs from diverse political parties support the same projects not only to validate their own views but also to delegitimise those of others. I refer to the conflicts resulting from different political actors’ support of the same memory laws as embedded memory wars. Based on documentary analysis and fieldwork interviews, this article examines embedded memory wars through the illustrative case of the 2019 recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Italy's Chamber of Deputies. In supporting Armenian Genocide recognition, Italian MPs from both right and left-wing parties developed competing narratives to debate contemporary topics related to European integration, multiculturalism, and Turkey.

The elusive face of peace in public spaces

AbstractWhile war memorials and monuments are generally easily recognized, peace art and spaces dedicated to peace are not. This is often because we both define and remember “peace” in ambiguous and sometimes contradictory ways. This article discusses the International Peace Garden (Manitoba/North Dakota) and Bangor City Park (Bangor, Wisconsin). Both are dedicated to “peace,” but reveal the complicated ways our understandings of peace shape our surroundings.

Book Review: Renegotiating First World War Memory: The British and American Legions, 1938–1946 by Ashley Garber

Book Review: <i>Renegotiating First World War Memory: The British and American Legions, 1938–1946</i> by Ashley Garber

Framing the Memory of a War: Examining the Narratives of War Memorials in South Korea and the Philippines in Remembering Korean War Memories

Framing the Memory of a War: Examining the Narratives of War Memorials in South Korea and the Philippines in Remembering Korean War Memories

Impact of dosing schedules on performance of rotavirus vaccines in Ghana.

Available live-oral rotavirus vaccines are associated with low to moderate performance in low- and middle-income settings. There is limited evidence relating to how the vaccine dosing schedule might be adjusted to improve vaccine performance in these settings. We used mathematical models fitted to rotavirus surveillance data for children <5 years of age from three different hospitals in Ghana (Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi and War Memorial Hospital in Navrongo) to project the impact of rotavirus vaccination over a 10-year period (April 2012-March 2022). We quantified and compared the impact of the previous vaccination program in Ghana to the model-predicted impact for other vaccine dosing schedules across the three hospitals and the entire country, under different assumptions about vaccine protection. To project the rotavirus vaccine impact over Ghana, we sampled from the range of model parameters for Accra and Navrongo, assuming that these two settings represent the "extremes" of rotavirus epidemiology within Ghana. For the previously implemented 6/10-week monovalent Rotarix vaccine (RV1) schedule, the model-estimated average annual incidence of moderate-to-severe rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis (RVGE) ranged between 1,151 and 3,002 per 100,000 people per year over the 10-year period for the three sites. Compared to no vaccination, the model-estimated median percentage reductions in RVGE ranged from 28-85% and 12-71% among children <1 year and <5 years of age respectively, with the highest and lowest percentage reductions predicted using model parameters estimated for Accra and Navrongo, respectively. The median predicted reductions in RVGE for the whole country ranged from 57-66% and 35-45% among children <1 year and <5 years of age, respectively. The 1/6/10- and 6/10/14-week schedules provided the best and comparable reductions in RVGE compared to the original 6/10-week schedule, whereas there was no improvement in impact for the 10/14-week schedule. We found that administering an additional dose of RV1 might be an effective strategy to improve rotavirus vaccine impact, particularly in settings with low vaccine effectiveness. The results could be extrapolated to other countries using a 2-dose vaccine schedule with low to moderate vaccine performance.

Иностранная военная интервенция в годы Гражданской войны в России (1917–1922): опыт истории и уроки для современности

The article analyses the materials on the Allied military intervention in Russia presented at the round table that took place in Moscow in March 2024. This topic is relevant due to the challenges faced by Russia nowadays. The presentations covered the reasons for the Allied intervention, its participants, their goals and interests, the chronology of the invasion, its milestones, key events and final results, as well as the historical experience of fighting against the intervention. It was emphasized that the huge foreign military and other assistance to the anti-Bolshevik forces in Russia escalated and prolonged the Civil War. In addition, the round table participants discussed the relevant historical lessons drawn from the experience of fighting against the intervention, as well as the formation and preservation of historical memory of the Civil War and Allied intervention in Russia.

Soviet war cemeteries in Poland as places of imperial memory and power. Three case studies

During winter of 1945, Soviet Red Army units, defeating the Wehrmacht on the pre-1939 territories of the Second Polish Republic, left behind many wartime graveyards. From early spring of 1945, the Soviet military command ordered the construction of monumental war memorials. In this article, I argue that material structures and spatial features of those cemeteries-mausoleums show and articulate a direct political aim behind their establishment — one of Soviet imperial policy towards Poland. By close examination of necropolies in three middle-sized or small Polish towns — Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Kalisz and Wolsztyn — I discuss their urban contexts, ideologically marked elements of form and spatial arrangements. This study offers a new approachto Soviet cemeteries in Poland, shedding light on their long-time usage as tools of imperial propaganda, related to the Great Patriotic War of the USSR.

LGG-42. TWENTY YEARS OF PROGRESS IN MANAGING LOW GRADE GLIOMA: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN’S COMBINED PAEDIATRIC NEURO-ONCOLOGY SERVICE FROM 2001 TO 2022

Abstract BACKGROUND This study aimed to review the management of childhood low grade gliomas (WHO I and II) by the University of Cape Town’s combined neuro-oncology service at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s and Groote Schuur Hospitals. METHODS All patients diagnosed with low grade glioma between 2001 and 2022 were included in this retrospective study. Real time decision-making during the study period was achieved via a weekly neuroimaging meeting, and surveillance by a combined monthly clinic attended by paediatric endocrinology and educational psychology. Despite state of the art surgical and radiotherapy facilities, molecular diagnostics, monoclonal antibodies and small molecules were only available to selected patients. RESULTS Among 129 children, aged 0.38 to 14.58 years [median 5.36], six had Tuberous Sclerosis and 11 had Neurofibromatosis-1. The commonest sites were cerebellum (26%), hypothalamus (17%) and optic pathway (16%), and 12 patients (9%) had metastatic disease, mostly grade I supratentorial tumours. Twenty-three patients were diagnosed on imaging without histology, six of whom were biopsied subsequently, yielding a total of 96 grade I and 16 grade II tumours. Initial management was expectant in 16% (including 8 of the 11 Nf-1 tumours), surgery in the form of debulking or total resection in 53%, chemotherapy in 24% and radiotherapy in 8%. Ultimately 36% received chemotherapy and 29% radiotherapy (almost all of them focal RT), and only 16% of those treated with radiotherapy progressed. Estimated 5-year Overall Survival (OS) and Progression Free Survival (PFS) was 90.5% and 52.6% for the whole group. Patients treated with chemotherapy had an OS of 87.2% and a PFS of 39.2%. PFS and OS were inferior for metastatic disease but not for grade II tumours. CONCLUSIONS Low grade glioma can be managed effectively in a middle-income country setting. Multidisciplinary team management is crucial to achieving positive outcomes regardless of context.

Unified in remembrance: reflections on collective war commemoration by war-affected immigrants in the Netherlands

Decades after World War II, major commemorations are still organised to collectively remember this war. Aiming for inclusive societies, the perspectives of immigrants with different war experiences are important to be heard in relation to these commemorations. Research reveals that commemorations can kindle difficult emotions such as sadness and bring distressing memories to the fore. Concurrently, psychosocial factors such as societal support and meaning making may buffer the emotional distress and contribute to a beneficial impact. It is not well known how this applies to immigrants. The present study explores how war-affected immigrants in the Netherlands relate to the Dutch Remembrance Day. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 war-affected immigrants from 8 different countries (including countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America). Qualitative analyses revealed that participants experienced multiple and mixed emotions during the Dutch Remembrance Day, including sadness, longing, and gratitude. Memories about own war experiences and losses often arose, of which the impact varied from distress to relief. The context of war in participants’ countries of origin, such as ongoing conflict or a contested history, often hindered commemoration of these wars. Through the Dutch commemoration, most war-affected immigrants experienced social connectedness and openness for (emotional) expression which contributed to dealing with their past experiences. Insights from this study may guide counsellors working with war-affected immigrants and help societies to organise optimally appealing commemorations within an inclusive society.

The Filipino comfort women on YouTube: Emotions, advocacy, and war memories in a transnational digital space

In this article, we examine the representation and contestation of Filipino comfort women’s memories on YouTube and assess the platform’s role in public discourse and transnational activism. Our content analysis of visual and narrative elements, alongside user commentary on selected videos, reveals that YouTube acts as a crucial transnational medium, linking advocacy networks and contextualizing historical narratives. However, the videos often sensationalize the victims’ experiences, undermining the seriousness of sexual violence, which could potentially weaken advocacy efforts. Moreover, user commentary on the videos can promote counter-narratives, rumors, and hostile comments. Despite these challenges, we underscore YouTube’s significance in fostering public discourse on war memories and justice in the Philippines in light of the government’s efforts to suppress the history of Filipino comfort women. The platform encourages the sharing of corroborative postmemory, enhancing war memorialization and audience engagement, and supporting the women’s claims of abuse. Ultimately, YouTube’s role as an open forum for discussion is vital in fostering dialogues for peace and justice and countering propaganda and hate.