THIS WEEK IN 1992: Bronze yomper will guard museum

Philip Jackson applies the finishing touches to the towering clay model (9221-1)

A Falklands yomper would be the first major piece of public sculpture to take its place in Portsmouth in nearly 100 years.

Commissioned by the Royal Marines Museum at Eastney, the 13ft-high statue, a memorial to the Falklands war, would stand at a new museum entrance, scheduled to open in July.

It took internationally-renowned Philip Jackson three months to make the clay model of the marine radio operator in his Midhurst studios.

It was later cast into bronze.

Museum director Colonel Keith Wilkins said: ‘We decided the yomper was the right type of symbol for the new development.’

In recent times, the yomper has been plagued with the threat of a relocation to Portsmouth Harbour, amid consultations.