Tommy statue

Tommy is a statue of a First World War soldier by artist Ray Lonsdale, displayed close to Seaham war memorial, on Terrace Green by the seafront in Seaham, County Durham.

The corten steel statue weighs and is tall, with a rusty red patina. It depicts a First World War soldier, wearing boots, puttees, greatcoat and tin hat, sitting on an ammunition box, with downcast eyes, holding the barrel of his grounded rifle in his right hand. It is officially named 1101 (or Eleven-O-One), referring to the first minute of peace as the armistice came into force at 11am on 11 November 1918, but is more popularly known as Tommy, referring to the archetype private soldier Tommy Atkins.

It was displayed temporarily in Seaham from May 2014, but became a permanent fixture after a committee of local residents raised £67,000 of the £85,000 needed to buy it, with the remaining balance of £18,000 coming from Seaham town council. The price was handed over on 4 August 2014, the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. The statue was relocated onto a paved platform in 2015, under which was buried a time capsule containing donated items, including a letter from Ray Lonsdale, a T-shirt, children's artworks, war remembrances, and a Victory Medal.