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Memorial details

Memorial type
Cross
District
Castletown
Town
Castletown
County
Isle of Man
Country
Isle of Man
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918), Second World War (1939-1945)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: 28 July 1922
    Attended by: SIR GEORGE THOMAS BEATSON MD KCB KBE
  • Dedicated
    Date: 28 July1922
    Attended by: Bishop Suffragan of Warrington
  • Show More (1)
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
28255

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Current location

King Williams College Chapel
A8
Castletown
Castletown
Isle of Man
IM9 1TP
Isle of Man

OS Grid Ref: SC 27441 68113
Denomination: Non-Denominational

View location on Google Maps
Description
TALL CELTIC STYLE WHEEL CROSS ON SQUARE PLINTH AND THREE STEPPED BASE. A SWORD OF SACRIFICE with POINT DOWNWARDS is ETCHED ON THE FRONT FACE.
Inscription
PRO PATRIA 1914 - 1918/ PRO PATRIA 1939 - 1945/ (names)
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Adamson, J T G
Allen, R E
Anderson, A J S
Ashcroft, E D
Ashcroft, L E
Barrett, G H J
Beckton, W
Bell, P
Bird, F C
Black, H M A A
See details for all 136 names
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 136
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 136
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, initials of forenames
    Order of information: surname
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 77
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 77
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, forenames
    Order of information: surname
Components
  • Cross
    Measurements: height 15FT
    Materials: Granite - Cornish
  • Base
    Measurements: height 18FT, width 18FT
    Materials: Stone
Condition
Costs

Memorial: £1763

Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Responsibility
KING WILLIAMS COLLEGE
Reference
  • Manx Quarterly Issue 29 (1923) King William's College [photograph] In honour of 119 old pupils of King William's College who laid down their lives for King and country in the Great War, a memorial cross has been erected in the open space just outside the College Chapel, and it was formally unveiled and dedicated on Friday, July 28th, just prior to the school being closed for the summer vacation. The cross is of Celtic design, incised and panelled, and it bears on its face a bronze replica of the ancient Sword of State of the Isle of Man, which for centuries was carried before the Governor at Tynwald, and which presumably was carried before Bishop Barrow, the founder of the College, who belonged to material of Cornish granite, and the cross stands on a base of three ascents and upon a pedestal, reaching a height of nineteen feet, ten inches, in all. On the sides of the pedestal, upon four tablets, the names of the fallen youths and men are inscribed in bronze. The designer was Mr Ronald F. Dodd, architect, of Oxford (son of the late Mr T. M. Dodd, of Castletown, and an O.K.W.), and the work has been executed by Messrs W. H. Axtell and Co., of Oxford. An additional memorial has been placed in the Chapel, in the form of a stained-glass window, containing allegorical figures of St. George and King Arthur. It bears an appropriate Latin inscription, and has been designed and executed by Mr Gray, of Cambridge. The ceremony was attended by a very large number of old boys and parents, and the Chapel was completely filled. There, a most impressive service was gone through, the opening sentences being read by the Ven. Archdeacon of Mann, and the lesson by the head of the school, H. C. Easton. The memorial window was dedicated by a former Principal, the Rev. E. H. Kempson, M.A., who is now Bishop of Warrington. The memorial cross was unveiled by one of the most distinguished men who has ever passed through the College, Sir George Beatson, M.D., K.C.B., and was dedicated by the Bishop of Sodor and Mann (the Right Rev. James Denton-Thompson, D.D.). Sir George Beatson had a distinguished medical career in Glasgow long before the war, but during the war he displayed not merely great scientific attainments, but great organising ability, and he was head of the Red Cross work throughout Scotland. His services were recognised not only by his own government, but by foreign governments. He came to the College in 1856, when his parents resided in Castletown, and was head of the School in 1866. In the course of a memorable address, he said:- Never in the annals of King William's College have its friends and its pupils (past and present) met together on an occasion so unique, so impressive, and so full of emotion, for we are assembled hero to-day to unveil a memorial to no less than 127 Old Boys and Masters who laid down their lives in the Great War in the cause of Freedom of Justice, and of Humanity. To them and to all their fallen comrades a"grateful and admiring nation has paid its tribute by the burial in Westminster Abbey, the Valhalla of our country's illustrious dead, of the body of an " Unknown Warrior." The King and Princes and the highest in the land took part in his obsequies, and he was laid to rest amidst the people's homage and the people's grief. But it is only right and proper that this college should erect a memorial of its own to those who have added such lustre to the traditions of the school. Gratitude, admiration, and affection all demand it. No doubt such a memorial has a pathos all its own, and has a tendency to make us mourn, so that we may allow ourselves to be carried away by the sadness it embodies, and the tragedy that it represents. But we must not allow our emotions to gain the upper hand, and sorrow without hope. Were we to do so, this memorial would be our undoing. We are not to grieve, but to admire and emulate. We cannot, of course, but feel regret that the heroes to whom this memorial has been erected have not lived to receive our plaudits, and wear the honours they had won, but of them it has been truthfully and beautifully said:- For you no medals such as others wear, A Cross of Bronze for those approved brave; To you is given, above a shallow grave, A wooden Cross, that marks you resting there. Rest you content; more honourable far Than all the content.; is the Cross of wood, The symbol of self-sacrifice that stood Bearing the God, whose brethren you are. It is, then, in every way, appropriate that this memorial should take the form of a cross. There was no doubt a day when round the cross, as a symbol, there hovered nothing but ignominy and shame, for on it the malefactor suffered, and the murderer died; but the rough and reddened wood that stood on Calvary's height changed all that, and the cross is now for us the emblem of all that is noble, self-sacrificing, and good. It speaks to us of what is holiest, best, and bravest in the world. To all of us it is our life's guiding star. It cannot then be otherwise than that this cross must always conjure up for us a beatific vision of patriotism and self-sacrifice. To some, no doubt, it will call up the shadowy form of old familiar friends, whose hands they will never again in this world clasp in friendship; but to one and all it must always be an inspiration, for it tells of duty nobly done. No higher praise can be given to anyone than to say of him: " He did his duty." Why do we cherish Nelson's immortal memory? It is because he personifies to us patriotism and self-sacrifice, and because the motto of his life was " Duty." It was the last word that flew from his signal halliards ; it was the last message he gave to the country for which he died. And every year, when in London they lay their laurel wreaths at the foot of his monument, it is to remind the people for what he lived, and for what he gave this life; and it is done in the hope, and in the belief, that the message will always find a responsive echo in the hearts of the youth and manhood of this land.The recent campaign showed that the confidence was not misplaced, for when the bugles sounded war, and it was seen that the safety of our country and of the Empire was threatened, old and young rallied round the colours. Men came from far and near. There were Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders; there were dusky warriors from the banks of the Ganges, and the Indians; there were black Sudanese, all proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers, to fight with them, and if need be, to die for a Motherland that had done so much for them. At home men flocked from heath and fen, from hill and dale, from offices and from workshops, from mines, from shipyards, from every town and village throughout the land, and not one whit behind them were the beardless youths, scarce done with school.Eager for the conflict, they left their games, the river, the tennis court, and the cricket field, ready to play the game of life upon a bloodier sod. While then this memorial will always be an inspiration to one and all, it will fail in its full usefulness if we do not take to heart the lesson that it teaches old and young, but especially the latter. And here I would like to remind the present boys of this school that it is they and the rising generation who will chiefly benefit by the Great War, for it was fought and won that there might be secured for them the blessings of social happiness, the personal and religious liberty; and the hope divine that we now all enjoy. What then is the lesson we have all to learn from this memorial? It is that to us who are left there has been given the sacred duty to keep secure the Empire, and this land we love, and to do everything we can to make happier and better this country that these boys thought worth dying for. To every one of us there comes across the water from the marshes of Flanders loud and clear the poet's words : - To you, from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If you break faith with us who die, We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders' fieldd Comforted, then, by the knowledge that out of suffering and death good often comes, strong in the belief that nothing noble ever dies; we may mourn, for no country can have too many men of courage, but we must not hopelessly deplore the loss of lives so full of promise and of hope, for, by their death, these men have shown their real worth — their manly souls. This thought should bring a higher sunshine into many , a sorrowing heart, and be to it an abiding comfort. I hope, too, that in the years to come, on to-day's anniversary, there will always be laid a laurel wreath at the foot of this memorial; for it will serve to remind the pupils of this splendid episode in the history of their school, and it will generate an atmosphere that will foster and develop the best qualities in their nature, while it will keep alive the memory of the men who set a higher store on Duty than on Life, who valued great deeds above length of days, and who have bequeathed to their old College a great and glorious inheritance. Confident, then, that in the hearts of every-one present here to-day, there is warm sympathy with those who have been bereaved, an increased affection for the old school, and a deep, genuine admiration for these fallen dead, I herewith unveil this Memorial. A laurel wreath, bound with the College colours (maginla, black and white) was laid on the cross by the head of the school, and the " Last Post " and " Reveille were sounded by the buglers of the College O.T.C. The O.T.C., which was about 80 strong, and under under the command of the Rev. E. H. Stenning, was reviewed by the Governor prior to the commencement of the ceremony.
  • For even more detail see KING WILLIAM'S COLLEGE ISLE OF MAN Centenary Notes And Pictures Pages 22-24 see www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/kwc1933/p022.htm (then navigate forwards to pages 23 and 24)
  • BRITISH PUBLIC SCHOOLS WAR MEMORIALS by KERNOT, C F pp.110-111 Source: Image Library NIWM Published:ROBERTS AND NEWTON 1927 LONDON

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