The Telegraph, 28/11/2003

Buried in an unmarked ditch at the foot of the fortified walls of Badajoz lie the remains of thousands of British soldiers. They died during the Duke of Wellington's campaign, with Spanish and Portuguese help, to drive Napoleon's forces back into France.

But the absence of a memorial marking their sacrifice is no accident. "It does not seem such a good idea to erect a memorial for a horde of devils and savages that raped women and profaned our churches," said one townsman, Juan Maria Cervera.

Mr Cervera is part of a group of locals that has mounted fierce opposition to successive petitions to honour the British dead.

The cause of the bad feeling in this remote hinterland of western Spain relates to the events of April 7, 1812, when soldiers embarked on one of the worst atrocities ever committed by the British Army. After Wellington's men stormed the French positions at this strategic town they embarked on a barbaric orgy of rape, pillage and murder.

Their savagery contributed to the Iron Duke's later assessment that his soldiers were "the scum of the earth".

Capt Alfonso Menendez, a retired infantryman and historian who backed the drive to erect a memorial to the British: "The mayor agreed to erect a plaque and then at the last minute suspended the event as feelings were running high.

"We want to accept our history and to acknowledge the past. But a minority have stopped it."

The commemorative plaque to the fallen of Badajoz that was to have been erected on the city walls by the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers has been placed over the border in a cemetery in Portugal.

A Spanish army spokesman said a compromise was being planned whereby the army would erect a plaque dedicated to all who fell during the siege. "It is doubtful whether the plaque will make any particular reference to the British," he added.

Summarising opposition to the project, another townsman, Francisco Pilo, said: "The British did not come to Spain out of solidarity, they came to expand their empire. We don't need another monument to British imperialism. We already have Gibraltar."

The day after the taking of Badajoz 10,000 British soldiers, maddened with drink, rampaged for 29 hours. Old men were shot, children bayoneted, women raped and churches looted. Most of the 5,000 of the town's 21,000 population who had not fled were killed or wounded.

Attempts by Wellington's officers to halt the rampage, often fuelled by liberated drink, failed. A gallows was erected to hang the miscreants but a number of officers who tried to intervene were shot.

An officer present at the siege, Robert Blakeney, wrote: "Every house presented a scene of plunder, debauchery and bloodshed committed with wanton cruelty . . . the infuriated soldiery resembled rather a pack of hell-hounds vomited up from the infernal regions for the extirpation of humanity."

Across the border in Portugal and visible from Badajoz is Elvas. Here, built into the massive ramparts is the spectacular English Cemetery, where lies the only known tomb of a soldier who fell at Badajoz, Lt Col James Oliver.

On the whitewashed wall is the plaque designed to be fixed to the walls of Badajoz.

The cemetery is the only known Peninsular War place of rest. It was revived by a retired British officer, Major Nick Hallidie. He proposed the Badajoz plaque and is part of a wider struggle to preserve the dwindling legacy of Wellington's Peninsular War force.

"There is still an edge, a raw feeling in Badajoz. We are certainly not going to force ourselves on the town. But it has got to happen at some point," said Major Hallidie. "There are thousands buried there."

Wellington lost 5,000 men in taking Badajoz and wept afterwards for the loss. They were cut down in 40 horrific sallies against grape shot, chevaux-de-frise ("Friesland Horses" - blade-studded beams fixed as a defences) and cannon. They were buried with the horses, amid the dirt at the foot of the town walls.


 

inserido por Alexandre às 18:37