Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers

Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers is a statue by sculptor Ray Lonsdale which overlooks North Bay of Scarborough, England.

Made from weathering steel, the sculpture depicts Freddie Gilroy, a former soldier who participated in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, sitting on a bench in his old age.

Gilroy was a friend of the sculptor and Lonsdale made the piece partly as a tribute to him, but also as a wider war and Holocaust memorial.

[3][4][5] Gilroy, a South Hetton brickmaker and colliery worker, served with the Royal Artillery during the Second World War and became one of the first Allied troops to help liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945.

[8] She noted that by offering a space for people to sit and pose with Gilroy Lonsdale has created a sculpture unlike most other holocaust memorials.

[8] Also in 2012 Lonsdale proposed that the piece be moved to a position overlooking South Bay near to the Rotunda Museum, as it was suffering corrosion from sea water in rough weather.