Memorial details

Memorial type
Chapel or Church: Freestanding building
District
City Of Westminster
Town
Holborn
County
Greater London
Country
England
Commemoration
Second World War (1939-1945)
Ceremony
  • Dedicated
    Date: 19 Oct 1958
    Attended by: Bishop of London
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
53566

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Current location

St Clement Danes Church
Strand
Holborn
City Of Westminster
Greater London
WC2R 1DH
England

OS Grid Ref: TQ 30978 81036
Denomination: Church of England

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Description
Church was rebuilt after WW2 in original Baroque style, with the incorporation into it many RAF motifs and memorials. Floor contains 800 RAF squadron and unit badges in Welsh slate. Arms of Air Marshal Lord Trenchard, 'Father of the RAF', hang above the west door, and small arms of air chief marshals from 1918-1977 are at the end of the pews. Beneath ten of the windows are large books of remembrance listing more than 125,000 names of those killed in the RAF and its predecessors (WMR 53706).
Inscription
(Above chancel): AEDIFICAVIT CHR. WREN A.D. MDCLXXXII. DIRUERUNT AERII BELLI FULMINA A.D. MCMXLI. RESTITUIT REGINA CLASSIS AERONAUTICA A.D. MCMLVIII. (Built by Christopher Wren 1682. Destroyed by enemy air attacks 1941. Rebuilt by the RAF 1958.) (Tablet on outer east wall): ST CLEMENT DANES/ BUILT BY THE DANISH/ COMMUNITY IN THE NINTH/ CENTURY AND REBUILT BY/ WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR/ REBUILT AGAIN BY/ SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN IN/ 1681 THE STEEPLE ADDED BY/ JAMES GIBBS IN 1719/ GUTTED BY GERMAN INCENDIARY BOMBS LEAVING/ ONLY THE DAMAGED WALLS/ AND STEEPLE 10 MAY 1941/ ADOPTED IN 1956 BY THE ROYAL AIR FORCE/ RESTORED BY ANTONY LLOYD/ AND RECONSECRATED IN THE / PRESENCE OF HER MAJESTY/ QUEEN ELIZABETH II/ 19 OCTOBER 1958/ AS THE CENTRAL CHURCH/ OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: Undefined
    Died: 0
    Exact count: no
    Information shown: Undefined
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Church
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Undefined
Listing information
Condition
History
Reconstruction began in 1955 and in 1958 it was dedicated as a memorial to airmen killed in WW2 and subsequent conflicts.
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Sponsorship
Public
Responsibility
Royal Air Force

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.

This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:

© WMR-53566

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