Memorial details

Memorial type
Roll of honour or book of remembrance
District
Coventry
Town
Coventry
County
West Midlands
Country
England
Commemoration
Second World War (1939-1945), Second World War - civilians
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
87770

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Current location

In a corridor
near the Coventry Police World War 1 plaque
Coventry Central Police Station
Little Park Street
Coventry
Coventry
West Midlands
CV1 2JX
England

OS Grid Ref: SP 33554 78604
Denomination: Undefined

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Previous locations
  • Coventry Police Club
    16 Lower Holyhead Road
    Coventry
    Coventry
    West Midlands
    CV1 3AW
    England

    OS Grid Ref: SP 32923 79134
    Denomination: Undefined
Description
Framed Roll of Honour. At the top are two blue ribbon-scrolls, one bearing the words "City of Coventry Police Force", intersected at the centre by a depiction of the Coventry City Police crest, the other bearing the words "Roll of Honour", flanked by the dates 1939 and 1945. Immediately beneath, in two columns, are the names of the 24 men who died (14 of them on Police duty). Below that section is a further heading "Serving with H.M. Armed Forces", which is followed by three columns of the salient names. Beneath that section is a further heading, "Awards for acts of Gallantry", which is followed by three columns of names, comprising 21 men who received recognition for gallantry, most of whom did so as serving Police officers. (Some of those listed in this section are also recorded in one of the other sections above). At the foot of the Roll of Honour is a key to the five symbols appended to relevant names in the main 3 sections. Those annotations comprise: Killed in air-raids, Awards for gallantry in air-raids, Killed while serving in H.M. Armed Forces, Discharged from Armed Forces, and Awards for gallantry in H.M. Armed Forces.
Inscription
CITY of COVENTRY POLICE FORCE/ ROLL of HONOUR/ (NAMES/ SERVING WITH H.M. ARMED FORCES/ (NAMES)/ AWARDS FOR ACTS OF GALLANTRY/ (NAMES) (N.B. Some names are listed on the Roll of Honour twice, i.e. both as having served/been decorated and also as having died).
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Arundel, J
Bailey, H C
Ball, C L
Barratt, G F
Barratt, G F
Bawden, A E
Bennett, C S
Bennett, E G
Bentley, J T
Berry, H
See details for all 107 names
Commemorations
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 79
    Served and returned: 69
    Died: 10
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Initials, surname, former police rank/collar number, plus decoration received or date of death where appropriate
    Order of information: The casualties are listed chronologically by date of death; the survivors are not alphabetical by surname (possibly listed by date of enlistment, but that is unverified).
  • Second World War - civilians
    Total names on memorial: 28
    Served and returned: 14
    Died: 14
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Initials, surname, Police rank and/or collar number/Department, date of death and/or gallantry award
    Order of information: In descending order of gallantry award received
Components
  • Roll of honour
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Paper
  • Frame
    Measurements: height c1100mm, width c900mm
    Materials: Wood, glass
Listing information
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Responsibility
West Midlands Police
Reference
  • Coventry Evening Telegraph 21/9/1977 (page 20) reported that the glazed-framed Coventry Police WW2 Roll of Honour had been placed on display in the corridor near the WW1 memorial plaque at Little Park Street Police Station, having originally been erected at the Police Club in Holyhead Road.
  • London Gazette Supplement 35012, page 7017 (published 10/12/1940) announced the award of the George Cross to Special Constable Brandon Moss of "Coventry Special Constabulary" ; which relates to the mention of that gallantry award recorded on the Roll of Honour. (Brandon Moss was the first Police officer ever to receive the George Cross; the second such award was made in 1953, as reported on pages 1 and 12 of the Daily Mirror on 7/1/1953).

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-87770

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