First and Second World War memorials form the main part of the UK National Inventory of War Memorials(UKNIWM) and they are the memorials that people tend to automatically think of. Indeed, the period of memorialisation after the First World War has been described as the largest public arts project this country has ever seen. This came about for a number of reasons.

NIWM 4723

In the years prior to the First World War, warfare was of a markedly different nature. For example, in the 19th century, war and colonial skirmishes occupied a major part of Britain’s history, but the soldiers of these wars were professionals, isolated from the society which they served. Commemoration of the war dead was the exception rather than the norm and it was mainly restricted to officers, a privileged elite largely drawn from families for whom death in action was an occupational hazard. One example (above) is this rather prosaic memorial in Coddenham Parish Church, Suffolk to Capt Bacon who fell in a naval battle in 1666 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War 1665 – 1667.

 

 

NIWM 11608

  In contrast, the rank and file were viewed by many as the sweepings of society, only one stage removed from criminals and often the two groups were seen as interchangeable. If a son had “gone for a soldier” this was not an event to be viewed with pride. Where memorials were erected to groups of men, they were usually regimental ones, such as this one (right) erected by the Brigade of Guards in Westminster, London to those who fell in the Crimean War.

It was not until the Boer War of 1899 - 1902 that this perception began to change. The war was the first major war fought after a raft of reforms which had changed the character and image of the British Army at the end of the nineteenth century. Regiments had become closely associated with particular localities, from where many of the recruits were drawn. In addition, many of the soldiers who travelled to South Africa were volunteers. These men were not the despised regulars of the previous century but the much loved sons of small, close communities. Indeed, the volunteers were citizens first and soldiers second, and the loss of them to disease and enemy action was not taken lightly. As a result, the UK saw the first large scale erection of war memorials commemorating the ordinary soldier, rather than the well born officer.

However, the scale of this movement paled by comparison to that which occurred after the First World War. Approximately three quarters of a million British subjects died during that conflict and, due to an official refusal to allow repatriation of the dead, millions of bereaved Britons were left with no physical focus for their grief. The sheer scale of the losses and the effect that they had on cities, towns and villages resulted in communities all over Britain raising funds and erecting memorials to their fallen.

Commemoration occurred largely at a local level, with funding and ideas coming from within a community rather than being initiated from a higher governmental source. This lack of official guidance led to concern in some quarters that memorials that were being erected would not be of the best taste. Consequently, attempts were made to provide some guidance about the style and quality of design of a memorial and the Royal Academy of Arts organised the War Memorials Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1919. The exhibition illustrated ideas on the forms memorials might take as
well as examples of work by those whom the Royal Academy saw as being competent artists who would be able to design memorials of artistic merit.

NWIM 22083

External monuments are perhaps the most easily recognisable, the best known being the Cenotaph, the focal point of commemoration in Britain through the televised Remembrance Sunday parade and service. Most towns and villages in Britain have the often seen stone cross, obelisk or serviceman figure.

For example, in Brentwood, Essex not only did they establish a memorial hospital extension, opened on January 29 th 1921, (NIWM 1154) but they also erected this very striking cross (left) as the Brentwood and District war memorial. A committee, comprised of representatives from Brentwood, Great Warley, Little Warley, Shenfield and South Weald districts, was established in 1919 to raise the funds. The scheme was also publicly announced at a meeting in July 1919 and each district took it upon itself to raise the necessary funds to pay for both memorials. The task was sub-divided within each parish so that they would be able to canvass the whole neighbourhood.

As a result, practically every household in the area was consulted and a total of around £6,500 was raised, sufficient to pay for both schemes. Appeals for names and decorations awarded to those who fell who were to be added to the memorial were published in the local papers. Designed by Mr A. E. Hill, A.R.I.B.A. of Brentwood and built by Messrs Arthur Pilgrim and Sons, also of Brentwood, the cross was unveiled by General Lord Horne K.C.B., K.C.M.G on Sunday October 9 th , 1921 at 3.00pm and dedicated by the Reverend H. C. Walker, vicar of Christ Church, Warley.

NIWM 2085

Some towns, like Macclesfield, decided upon more innovative designs (right). The memorial features a complex sculptural group by J. Millard. As the figure of Britannia, with a banner, lays a crown of laurels on the body of a fallen soldier a shrouded female figure who stands above them with a wreath in her hand in a representation of mourning. It was unveiled by the Mayor of Macclesfield on the 21 st September 1921 and dedicated by the Bishop of Chester.

This design of this memorial is quite unique for this country.

In France, the depiction of casualties of war, either dead or dying, is quite a frequent occurrence as this memorial (below left) in Brest to those Bretons who died shows. However, in the UK servicemen figures on memorials are usually depicted standing in the mourning pose with rifle reversed. In this example from Macclesfield, we see instead a depiction of a casualty as he reaches for his gas mask (detail, below right) – the only one of its kind that we currently know of.

Brest Memorial, France

NIWM 2085 (detail)

But this tends to be the exception rather than the rule and over the twelve years that the Inventory has been recording there have been many other types of tangible object which have been designated as a war memorial.

Examples include plaques and tablets, buildings, church fabrics and fittings and gardens of remembrance.

Amongst these other memorial types, battlefield crosses form perhaps the most poignant memorial recorded on the database owing to the fact that they are the original grave markers from the First World War. They were collected by relatives who crossed over to France or Belgium when the crosses were replaced by the Commission headstones we see nowadays. The Church Army organised pilgrimages and over 2,000 crosses had been brought back by June 1923 according to the Church Army’s Annual report from that year.

NIWM 23510 - 23531

One of the most remarkable surviving collections of these crosses still exists at St Mary’s Church, Byfleet, where twenty two are mounted on the wall of the south aisle (left). The vicar at the time organised a pilgrimage to France and Flanders and these were brought
back when the group returned. Some had names but others were unidentified. altogether.

As far as we know, this is the largest single collection of battlefield crosses anywhere in the country - just over 300 have been recorded As for the hundreds of thousands of unclaimed crosses - these were ceremonially burned after the name tags had been removed and buried and the ashes were then scattered in the cemeteries.

NIWM 22337

Whilst the Inventory is mainly comprised of First and Second World War memorials, there are also many others for earlier conflicts for example the War of the Roses, the Jacobite rebellions and Colonial India. Accounts of the English Civil Wars of the mid-17th Century are full of deeds of heroism from both the Royalist and Parliamentary sides and we currently have twenty four memorials recorded on the database. One particular example is the memorial to Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle, Royalist Garrison commanders who were executed during the Second Civil War (right).

The memorial, a simple granite obelisk, is located in the inner bailey of Colchester Castle and it was erected to their memory in the early 19 th century. In 1648 they led the Essex Cavaliers in the Royalist uprising in Kent but it was soon crushed by Sir Thomas Fairfax, a leading Parliamentary general in the First and Second Civil Wars. He drove the Royalists into Colchester where they took refuge in the castle and he promptly laid down a siege from 13 June until 27 th August when they finally decided to surrender.

The two garrison commanders, Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle, were sentenced to death owing to their leading role in the uprising and the sentence was carried out as the evening light was fading. It is said that as a consequence of this, Lucas and Lisle asked that the firing squad move closer in order not to miss. However, those on the firing squad assured them that they would not. It is now a local legend that grass would not grow where their blood was spilt and in many respects this will certainly be the case as a layer of tarmac now covers the area.

NIWM 5894

After the Second World War, names were either added to the existing First World War Memorial or an additional memorial was erected. One of the most striking of the new memorials is the Commando memorial at Spean Bridge, Scotland (left). Over 20,000 commandos of all nationalities had trained in the area and their service is marked by this stone cairn surmounted by a group of three commandos wearing their characteristic cap comforters, battle dress and webbing. Designed by Scott Sutherland and made by the well known company H. H. Martyn and Co., it was unveiled by HM The Queen Mother on the 4 th October 1952.

The years following WW2 have also seen many conflicts, albeit not on the same scale, and this has led to many memorials in commemoration of the fallen, for example, the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and the Falklands War. It is estimated that out of the 33,000 servicemen who have died since 1948, a date taken due to the fact that the CWGC records go up to 31 st December 1947, around 7,500 have been killed on active service.

NIWM 12815

These memorials to the post Second World War conflicts have been diverse, ranging from single names being added to existing memorials, as happened after the Second World War, to the more elaborate commemoration in the form of the Falklands War Memorial Chapel in Pangbourne, near Newbury in Berkshire opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 9 th March 2000. Individual tablets were also erected as this one (right) to Staff Sergeant Tite in the Royal military Barracks, Chichester, shows.

These examples are just a fraction of what is contained in the Inventory and whilst the first stage of the data collection is now complete the database will carry on growing as new memorials continue to be erected. The Inventory is now available for consultation in the Reading Room of the Department of Printed Books at the Imperial War Museum and it is hoped that in the not too distant future it will become more widely available on the internet. The database looks set to become a vital research tool for those with an interest in memorials and commemoration, both in Britain and abroad.

© Imperial War Museum – UK National Inventory of War Memorials November 2001