Memorial details

Memorial type
Board / Plaque / Tablet
District
Bristol
Town
Portishead
County
Avon
Country
England
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: 10th February 1949
    Attended by: The Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Chief Constable and officers, relatives of the Fallen and dignitaries
  • Dedicated
    Date: 10th February 1949
    Attended by: Bishop of Bath and Wells performed the dedication
  • Show More (1)
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
87638

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Current location

Main Conference Room
Avon & Somerset Police and Fire HQ
Valley Road
Portishead
Bristol
Avon
BS20 8JJ
England

OS Grid Ref: ST 44871 75578
Denomination: Undefined

View location on Google Maps
Previous locations
  • In the hall on the 1st floor
    Somerset Constabulary HQ
    Shuttern
    Taunton
    Taunton Deane
    Somerset
    TA1 3QA
    England

    OS Grid Ref: ST 22412 24230
    Denomination: Undefined
Description
Rectangular oak board, with a thin painted blue and gold chequered border. The gold-painted names of casualties are listed beneath the Somerset Constabulary crest at top-centre,
Inscription
1914 1918/ SOMERSET CONSTABULARY/ ROLL OF HONOUR/ Killed while serving with H.M. Forces/ (12 names)
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Adam, William Simon
Coombes, George
Cornish, Charles Albert
Cowley, Frederick William
Crews, George
Day, William James
Fouracre, Frederick
Jackson, Sidney
Lewis, William Henry
Totterdell, George
See details for all 12 names
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 12
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 12
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Police collar number and rank, surname, forenames, decorations
    Order of information: Names listed alphabetically by surname
Components
  • Board
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Wood - Oak
Listing information
Condition
History
The memorial, which formerly hung in the Reception area at Portishead HQ, was moved to the Main Conference Room there after the Avon Fire and Rescue Service began to share the building on 18/9/2017.
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Responsibility
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Reference
  • Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 5/2/1949 (page 2) announced that "Somerset police officers who gave their lives in the two World Wars, numbering about twenty, are to be commemorated on two oak plaques at the County Police Headquarters, Taunton. The plaques will be unveiled by the Bishop of Bath and Wells (Dr. H. W. Bradfield) next Thursday morning, and afterwards the Bishop will give an address at a service of remembrance in the Wilton Parish Church".
  • The Centenary of the Somerset Constabulary booklet (1857-1956): included details of events during both World Wars, including the fact that, on the outbreak of WW1, 24 of its Constables were recalled to the Colours (as Army Reservists) and a further 14 volunteered to enlist; by the end of the War 121 members of the Constabulary had enlisted. (These included the Chief Constable, Captain Herbert Charles Metcalfe, born 1864, who resumed his Army rank of Captain; by the end of World War 1, he had risen to Lieutenant Colonel in the Northamptonshire Regiment, with which he had served overseas from July 1917, and had won a Distinguished Service Order medal and Bar). Extracts from the Centenary booklet can be viewed at www.asnarpo.org/letter/history.pdf
  • Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 12/2/1949 (page 6) reported the unveiling of the memorials, under the headline "POLICE HOMAGE TO FALLEN COMRADES: BISHOP DEDICATES MEMORIALS AT COUNTY HEADQUARTERS; REMEMBRANCE SERVICE AT WILTON CHURCH". The lengthy report described the service that had taken place on 10/2/1949, at which the memorial boards had been unveiled and dedicated at the Constabulary HQ in Taunton, commemorating 23 former Police officers who had died (12 in WW1 and 11 in WW2). It also described the Remembrance service that had taken place afterwards at St George's Church in Wilton. Both events had been attended by several dignitaries and also relatives of the casualties who were commemorated on the memorials. After the church service, about 100 members of the Police from all over Somerset had marched past Force Headquarters, where the Chief Constable, J.E. Ryall, had taken the salute.

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-87638

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