Robert Edsel's Blog

(Photo Courtesy of Kings College, Cambridge)

Today we honor the anniversary of British Monuments Man Ronald Balfour’s death. He was one of two Monuments Men killed in action while working to preserve the cultural heritage of Europe. While writing The Monuments Men, we researched his papers at King’s College, Cambridge. As usual, his papers were not only filled with reports and biographical information, but also touching personal letters and memories of him from professional associates and loved ones.

Amongst these things we found a draft of a lecture he had prepared for soldiers on the importance of protecting cultural property in times of war. We don’t know if the lecture was ever given, but his words perfectly and eloquently summarize the mission of the Monuments Men.

“We do not want to destroy unnecessarily what men spent so much time and care and skill in making…[for] these examples of craftsmanship tell us so much about our ancestors…If these things are lost or broken or destroyed, we lose a valuable part of our knowledge about our forefathers. No age lives entirely alone; every civilization is formed not merely by its own achievements but by what it has inherited from the past. If these things are destroyed, we have lost a part of our past, and we shall be the poorer for it.”

You may read Balfour’s full biography here: http://monumentsmen.com/bio.php?id=11

Monuments Man Ronald Balfour (1904 - 1945). (Photo Courtesy of Kings College Archive Center, Cambridge)

Major Ronald Balfour of the First Canadian Army, was from Oxfordshire, England. He was a historian at Cambridge University, a “gentleman scholar”, a bachelor dedicated to the intellectual life without ambition for accolades or position.

Before heading off to combat in August 1944, Balfour succinctly and beautifully made the compelling case of the importance of the task confronting the Monuments Men in a speech he planned to deliver to his men. He said: “No age lives entirely alone; every civilisation is formed not merely by its own achievements but by what it has inherited from the past. If these things are destroyed, we have lost a part of our past, and we shall be the poorer for it.”

Balfour also explained for his men the word “monuments”:

When we invade Europe, we shall be going into countries which are full of churches and other buildings, of museums and pictures and other works of art, of libraries and archives. These things are all valuable and many of them irreplaceable. It will be the same wherever we go, whether it is France or Belgium or Holland or Norway. To avoid repeating the whole list — churches and other buildings, museums and pictures and other works of art, libraries and archives — every time we speak of them , we use the word monuments to cover them all. So don’t be misled into thinking that when I speak of monuments I mean only statues and tombstones.

Sadly, Monuments Man Ronald Balfour was unable to deliver in person these remarks and others he had prepared. Still, the work he accomplished as a Monuments officer, not to mention the friendships he made and high esteem in which he was held by his comrades, is a testament to this great man and all he did to preserve the things “inherited from the past” he so cherished.