Nottinghamshire County Council - WW1

• First World War (1914-1918)
  Total names on memorial: 46
  Served and returned: 1
  Died: 45
  Exact count: yes
  Information shown: Surname, forenames
  Order of information: Alphabetically by surname

• Tablet
  Measurements: Undefined
  Materials: Alabaster

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Memorial: not exceeding £200

• Council or Committee Minutes 1919 and 1920 Reference CC 1/3/1-66. Extracts on file. (Standing Orders and General Purpose Committee minutes dated 27/7/1920 agreed the design and stated that the cost of the memorial was "not to exceed £200").
• Aside from the erroneous inclusion of Police Officer Reginald Percy Mears, this memorial to Council employees included twenty actual casualties who were members of Nottinghamshire County Constabulary, and are commemorated on the Constabulary's joint WW1/WW2 memorial, see our ref 68029 www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/68029
• Nottingham Evening Post 15/5/1939 included the following report: 'HIS NAME WAS ON WAR MEMORIAL Due To His Being Missing DEATH OF NOTTS. POLICE OFFICER A man whose name appears on a war memorial as one of those who made the great sacrifice, but who returned after being missing for a long period, died yesterday. He was Mr. Reginald Percy Mears of Eltham-road, West Bridgford, who was a constable in the County Constabulary. He was 51, and within a short period of retiring. A member of an old Beeston family, P.c. Mears served in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry from 1906 to 1914 and joined the police in May of that year. He was stationed in the Motor Licence Department when it was under the control of the police, and apart from his war service remained in that department until the present arrangements were introduced about 13 years ago. He then became a clerk at police headquarters. P.c. Mears was very severely wounded during the war. Upon the outbreak of hostilities he rejoined his regiment, and served most of the time in France with the 2nd Battalion, rising to the rank of captain. He was reported killed, and his name was included on the memorial in the Shire Hall to the employees of the Notts. County Council who lost their lives in the war, but after he returned an asterisk was placed against his name and beneath was added the words, “since returned.” He was a member of the Old Contemptibles Association and the British Legion. Deceased, who had been off duty owing to ill-health since December, leaves a widow and one son'. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/19390515/001/0001
• Halifax Evening Courier, printed 14/5/1921, included the following report: " DEAD " MAN COMES BACK TO DUTY. Read His Own Name on War Memorial. In spite of being officially dead, Constable Percy Mears is doing good work in the Notts constabulary, and the view of his comrades is that he is very much alive. At the Shire Hall he has read his own name on a tablet dedicated to the members of the Notts Police Force who fell in the war. He served as a lieutenant in France, and in 1917 while leading his men into action was hit by a stream of machine-gun bullets and left on the field as dead. Some hours afterwards, he was found alive, but unconscious, by men of the Lincolns, and removed to hospital, where he remained for over two years. Letters addressed to him were returned marked "Killed in action." A few weeks ago he returned to Nottingham, and to prove that he is not dead resumed his police duties. Now a small asterisk has been placed against his name on the war memorial, and at foot in small letters is the cryptic explanation, "Has since returned." www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003295/19210514/064/0004
• War Memorials Trust reference 255245 refers, see warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/255245/
• Nottinghamshire Roll of Honour website has a photo and details of the memorial, see secure.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/RollOfHonour/WarMemorials/Details/328
• Historic England's record of the Grade II* Listing of Shire Hall (and its fixtures and fittings -including this memorial) can be found at historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1254517
• Nottingham Journal 27/4/1921 (page 6) reported the unveiling of the memorial the previous day: "LEST WE FORGET". SHIRE HALL MEMORIAL TO COUNTY. A handsome tablet erected in the entrance hall of Nottingham Shire Hall to the memory of those members of the administrative staffs of the county who fell in the war was unveiled by Lord Galway after yesterday's meeting of the County Council. The memorial, which was designed by Messrs. H. Gill and Son, of Nottingham, and executed by Messrs. R. Bridgeman and Son, of Lichfield, is a tablet in church stone let into the spandrel of the arcade. The surrounding mouldings are decorated with laurel leaves, and surmounting the cornice is the Royal coat-of-arms in colour and bearing the inscription: " In memory of those in the county service who lost their lives in the Great War." The names of the fallen are cut in alabaster tablets, with the county coat-of-arms beneath in heraldic colours. It was only right, said Lord Galway, that the names of those who made the supreme sacrifice should be permanently recorded in the Shire Hall as a tribute to the courage and devotion which saved England from devastation and ruin. For those who remained there was the great task of rebuilding the country so that it might maintain its positions as one of the happiest and most prosperous nations of the world. Above all, we should bear in mind the words "Lest we forget," and not only cherish the memory of the fallen, but see that those they left behind had our sympathy and help. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001897/19210427/120/0006