Memorials - War

A selection of images of war memorials commemorating people and events from the English Wars of the Roses and Civil War through to World War Two.

Add to My Favourites Mr M.K Lofthouse. Source English Heritage.NMR Memorial to French prisoners of war, Church of St George, Central Avenue, Gillingham, Medway The memorial dates from 1869 and commemorates French prisoners from the Napoleonic wars who died in prison ships in Britain, especially those buried on St Mary's Island, part of Chatham Dockyard. The wars against Napoleon's French Empire started some time after he took power in 1799 and ended with his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Inside the memorial is a figure of a Napoleonic sailor. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Ms Pamela Jackson LRPS. Source English Heritage.NMR Maiwand War Memorial, Forbury Gardens, Reading The Maiwand Memorial was put up in 1886 in the form of a cast iron statue of an enraged lion. It is 3 times life size. The inscription reads "This monument records the names and commemorates the valour and devotion of xi (11)officers and cccxviii (318) non-commissioned officers and men of the lxvi (66th) Berkshire Regiment who gave their lives for their country at Girisk, Maiwand and Kandahar during the Afghan campaign 1879-80 Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Mr John Turner. Source English Heritage.NMR Monument to Battle of Wakefield, Wakefield, West Yorkshire A monument to the Battle of Wakefield built in 1897. The inscription reads 'Richard Plantagenet fell here December 30 1460'. The Battle of Wakefield was one of the many battles of the War of the Roses, it was here that Richard Duke of York, leader of the 'Yorkists' was killed. The nursery rhyme 'The Grand old Duke of York' has its origins in this battle. The Wars of the Roses were fought between 1455 and 1487. Members of the families of York and Lancaster fought for the throne of England. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Mr Mark Bardell. Source English Heritage.NMR Aboukir Memorial, Portsmouth, Portsmouth This monument was built in c1875. It is in memory of 48 Officers and Men who died during the epidemic of yellow fever on board H.M.S. Aboukir at Jamaica in 1873-74. The British had been involved with Jamaica since the 1650s and in 1866 it became a Crown Colony. This meant that it was ruled by a governor who was appointed by the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. H.M.S. Aboukir was a recieving ship, this was a ship that stayed in port and was used as a place to house new recuits before they were sent off on their postings. Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Mr Colin Cromwell. Source English Heritage.NMR Indian Mutiny Perthshire Volunteers Monument, Portsmouth, Portsmouth This monument was built in c1865. It's inscription reads "In memory of Officers (named) and 312 non-commissioned officers, buglers and privates of the 90th Light Infantry Perthshire Volunteers who fell during the mutiny in India in the defence, the relief, the capture of Lucknow and in the subsequent operations to the end of the war". The Indian Mutiny began in 1857 when soldiers of the Bengal army shot their British officers and marched on Delhi. The Bengal army was told to modernise and use a new rifle. A rumour concerning the use of pig and cow fat, forbidden in the Muslim and Hindu religions respectively, as lubricant on the cartridges for the new rifles was the final straw that sparked the rebellion. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Mrs Ann Vint LRPS. Source English Heritage.NMR Battle of Mortimer's Cross Monument, Kingsland, Herefordshire This monument was built in 1799. It has a long inscription that commemorates the Battle of Mortimer's Cross. The battle is one of the most obscure of the Wars of the Roses. It did, however, give the young Edward, Earl of March, experience of commanding in battle and helped him to win 3 later battles. It added to his military reputation and destroyed a strong Lancastrian challenge in the West Midlands. It also strengthened the Yorkist cause as Edward's success helped persuade many influential southerners to accept him when he became Edward IV in March 1461. There is some confusion about the exact date of the battle. Although it is normally given as 2 February 1461 several chronicles refer to fighting taking place on Tuesday 3 February. Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Mr Roger Ashley. Source English Heritage.NMR Monument, Naseby, Northamptonshire This monument was unveiled on the 18th May 1936. Its inscription reads "Battle of Naseby, 14 June 1645. From near this site Oliver Cromwell led the Cavalry charge which decided the issue of the battle and ultimately that of the great Civil War". Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Mr Derek E. Godson. Source English Heritage.NMR Monument to Major T. N. Dalton, Main Street, Fillingham, Lincolnshire This monument was built to commemorate Major T. N. Dalton. He was killed in 1856 at the Battle of Inkerman during the Crimean War. The battle took place on 5th November 1854. It involved 16,000 British and French soldiers fighting against 42,000 Russian soldiers in the Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire). The Russians were eventually defeated after a fierce battle. Major Dalton was one of the 2,357 British casualties. The French had 929 casualties and the Russians suffered 12,000 casualties. Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Dr Philip Westwood. Source English Heritage.NMR Russian Memorial, Abinger Place, Lewes, East Sussex This neo-gothic styled memorial was designed in 1877 by John Strong. The memorial commemorates the Russian soldiers who died while in prison in Lewes at the time of the Crimean War. One panel reads 'Sacred/to the Memory of/the Russian Soldiers/who died Prisoners/of War in Lewes/in the years/ 1854/ 1855 1856'. The other panel reads 'RAISED/by the order of/His Majesty/ the Emperor of/RUSSIA/Alexander II/1877. THE MEMORIAL/was restored by the/ Embassy of the USSR/1957/At the instance of the/Friends of Lewes/Society'. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Mr Colin Cromwell. Source English Heritage.NMR HMS Active Memorial, Portsmouth, Portsmouth This monument was built in the late 19th century. It has the inscription "Erected by the Officers and Ship's Company of H.M.S. Active, late flagship on the west coast of Africa and Cape of Good Hope station. To perpetuate the memory of those of their shipmates who perished while gallantly doing their duty with the Naval Brigade of that ship during the Kafir War of 1877-8 and the Zulu War of 1879". Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Mr John Washington. Source English Heritage.NMR Egyptian Campaign Memorial, Old Steine, Brighton, Brighton & Hove A war memorial in the form of an obelisk put up by the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1888 in memory of men killed during the invasion of Egypt by British Forces in 1882. British troops then occupied Egypt until the Anglo-Egytpian Treaty of 1922. The memorial also commemorates soldiers who were killed during the Nile expedition of 1884-5. This was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Mr David Cross. Source English Heritage.NMR Heroes Memorial, St Nicholas Place, Liverpool, Merseyside This memorial is dedicated to "heroes of the marine engine room". It was put up in 1916 and designed by Sir William Goscombe John. The memorial was originally intended to commemorate the 32 engineers of the ship 'Titanic' who stayed at their posts when she sank, to allow the greatest number of passengers to escape. Spaces were to be left to record other heroic deeds done by sea-going engineers. However, because of the very high loss of life at sea during the First World War, it was thought appropriate to dedicate the monument to all ships' engine room deaths. On the pedestal are carved life-size figures of the Engine Room Heroes - stokers on the east face and engineers on the west. The 2 inscriptions read; THE BRAVE DO NOT DIE/ THEIR DEEDS LIVE ON FOR EVER/ AND CALL UPON US/ TO EMULATE THEIR COURAGE/AND DEVOTION TO DUTY' and ' ALL HEROES OF THE / MARINE ENGINE ROOM/ THIS MEMORIAL/ WAS ERECTED BY/ INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION/ MCMXVI'. Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Mr Ivor Corkell. Source English Heritage.NMR War Memorial, Redruth, Cornwall This war memorial was put up in the 1920s. There is a panel in each side of the pedestal with raised lettering. On the west side :- THE TRIBUTE OF REDRUTH TO HER GLORIOUS DEAD 1914-1918 followed by applied metal lettering:- TO LIVE IN HEARTS WE LEAVE BEHIND IS NOT TO DIE. An added panel let into the base has raised lettering:- AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES 1939-1945. The panels in the other sides of the pedestal have names in applied metal lettering. There are 161 for the 1st World War and 66 for the 2nd World War. This is a typical example of the many thousands of war memorials that were put up after World War One. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Michael Bass. Source English Heritage.NMR War Memorial, Westonzoyland, Somerset This memorial was built by C & A Stacey Bros., who both served in the war. It was built in c1920. It has the inscription "This shell was presented to Westonzoyland Parish Council to commemorate the memory of local men who served in the 1914 - 1918 war". It is an unusual and broodingly eloquent monument. Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Mr Keith Wise. Source English Heritage.NMR War Memorial north of Polebrook House, Desford, Leicestershire This war memorial was built in c1920. It has the inscription 'This avenue of trees is planted to the memory of 36 old boys of this school who fell in the Great War 1914-1919 and below follows a list of the names of those who are commemorated here'. The school in question was the Desford Industrial (Boys) School, later called Polebrook House. The school was built in c1880 by the Leicester School Board but it took boys from all over the country. It was officially opened on Saturday 15 January 1881. It was not unusual for schools to build memorials to former pupils after the First World War, but this avenue of trees is a thoughtful addition. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Mr Les Waby. Source English Heritage.NMR Waggoners' Memorial, Sledmere, East Riding of Yorkshire This war memorial was designed and put up by Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet in 1919. It was sculpted by Carlo Magnoni. The inscription reads 'LT. COL: SIR MARK SYKES. BART: M.P. DESIGNED THIS MONUMENT AND SET IT UP AS A REMEMBRANCE OF THE GALLANT SERVICES RENDERED IN THE GREAT WAR. 1914-1919 / BY THE WAGGONER'S RESERVE A CORPS OF 1000 DRIVERS RAISED BY HIM ON THE YORKSHIRE WOLD FARMS IN THE YEAR 1912 THOMAS SCOTT FOREMAN. CARLO MAGNONI SCULPTOR. ALFRED BARR MASON'. The memorial pays tribute to the fact that many other people died in addition to the soldiers including drivers, doctors and stretcher bearers. Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Mr E.M Trendell ARPS. Source English Heritage.NMR Memorial to Edith Cavell, Tombland, Norwich, Norfolk This Memorial to Edith Cavell was put up in 1918. It was made by J. G. Gordon Munn and shows Cavell in nurse's uniform. The stone base incorporates a full-size relief of a soldier hanging up a second laurel wreath. Cavell was executed by the Germans in the First World War for helping around 200 British soldiers to escape Belgium. She was born in Swardeston near Norwich in 1865. She worked as a governess, then trained as a nurse. When war broke out in 1914 she was working in a hospital in Brussels that was taken over by the Red Cross. She was arrested on the 3rd of August 1915 and executed at 6am on the 12th October 1915. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Dr Eric Ritchie. Source English Heritage.NMR Statue of Captain Albert Ball, Castle Road, Nottingham This statue was put up in 1921. It is a life size bronze figure of Captain Ball dressed in his flying kit. Albert Ball, VC, was the first British flyer (pilot) to become a national celebrity in World War One. He was killed in 1917 aged 20 after a battle against Baron Manfred von Richthofen's "Flying Circus". Richthofen was a German celebrity pilot. He won his VC 'For most conspicuous and consistent bravery from the 25th of April to the 6th of May 1917, during which period Captain Ball took part in 26 combats in the course of which he destroyed eleven hostile aircraft, brought down two out of control and forced several others to land'. During World War one over 9,000 members of the RFC (Royal Flying Corps) were killed. 11 of them received the VC. Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Mr Bob Cottrell ARPS AFIAP DPAGB. Source English Heritage.NMR Memorial, Loud Terrace, Stanley, Durham This memorial stone to Pilot Officer Joyce was put up by local people in 1919. It was restored and rededicated in 1950. The inscription reads 'It was here that Pilot Officer Joyce met his death on the night of March 13 1918'. The obelisk has a carving of the arms of the Royal Flying Corps which was the forerunner of the RAF. A second inscription, on the lower step, commemorates Sergeant Observer Joyce, his son, who died in 1940. Many families lost men in both world wars. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Mr Peter Oakley Clarke ARPS. Source English Heritage.NMR Memorial to Norwegian Sailors, Spitalford, Northumberland This memorial is dedicated to Norwegian sailors who died during World War One. Part of its inscription reads 'IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED FROM EXPOSURE IN AN OPEN BOAT, WHILE ON PASSAGE FROM THE DEFENCELESS NORWEGIAN STEAMER "POLLUX" TORPEDOED BY A GERMAN SUBMARINE 40 MILES EAST OF ABERDEEN. THE BOAT REACHED SADDLE ROCKS DUNSTANBOROUGH, 22ND MARCH 1917'. Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites David Brogan. Source English Heritage.NMR The Chattri, Patcham, Brighton & Hove The Chattri memorial bears the following inscription in Hindi and English: 'To the memory of all the Indian soldiers who gave their lives for their King-Emperor in the Great War, this monument, erected on the site of the funeral pyre where the Hindus and Sikhs who died in hospital at Brighton, passed throught the fire, is in grateful admiration and brotherly affection dedicated'. 53 Hindu and Sikh soldiers were cremated here. Their ashes were then scattered in the sea. The memorial was put up in 1921. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Mr David Evans LRPS. Source English Heritage.NMR Croydon War Memorial, Katherine Street, Croydon, Greater London This war memorial has the inscription ' A TRIBUTE TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF CROYDON WHO DIED AND SUFFERED'. It was unveiled on 22 October 1921. It was paid for by a public subscription organised by the Borough of Croydon. It is of particular note for the balance struck between military and domestic suffering. Read official list description.
Add to My Favourites Mr Alan Simpson LRPS. Source English Heritage.NMR Anti Abyssinian War Memorial, Woodford, Greater London This monument was put up in 1935 as a protest against Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia (now called Ethiopia) in 1935/36. The monument depicts a falling bomb as the Italians used aerial bombing raids to drop mustard gas on Abyssinian soldiers and civilians. It has the following inscriptions. Front - "To those who in 1932 upheld the right to use bombing aeroplanes". Left - "this monument is raised as a protest against war in the air" Right - "originally unveiled by R P Zaphiro, secretary of the Imperial Ethiopian Legation London. Supported by James Ranger, E J A Webster, J Davey, Sylvia Pankhurst. October 20th 1935". Rear - "The site of this monument is the property of Sylvia Pankhurst. Design and work by Eric Benfield". It was listed for its historic value. Read official list description.	Add to My Favourites Mr John Turner. Source English Heritage.NMR Citizens' War Memorial, Kingston Upon Hull This war memorial is unusual in that it commemorates civilians killed in air attacks between 1939 and 1945. It is known as the Citizens' War Memorial and is close to the chapel at the Northern Cemetery. It dates from 1951. During World War Two Hull was one of the three most bomb damaged areas in the country. It lost 5,300 houses as well as churches, public buildings, factories and shops. Read official list description.