WARWICK WAR MEMORIAL

Detailed World War 1 & 2 information
Compiled and copyright © Gill Cannell & Andrew Dishman 2018

The memorial is to be found outside the Free Library, Church Street, Warwick. It takes the form of a large Eleanor cross, of Portland stone, surmounting a three-stepped, octagonal base cross, with bronze plaques on the lower levels listing the names of the fallen; above the plaques are four shallow niches; a cross is topped with decorative finials and has carved archways on. The memorial was created by Birmingham Guild; the builders were Messrs. Bridgeman & Co. of Lichfield; the designer was Mr C.E. Bateman, F.R.I.B.A.; the memorial site cost £2,000. The memorial was first unveiled 10 July 1921, attended by Lord Algernon Percy. There are 335 names for World War 1 and 99 for World War 2. The names have been transcribed in the order they are on each panel and so many names will appear to be out of order. The world War 2 section has been sorted into alphabetical order and the added panels for World War 1 transcribed. There is one name of a man killed in Brunei 1962.

A huge project has taken place to research the memorial and the men on it and rather than duplicate the effort we would direct you to the following site www.warwickwarmemorial.org.uk (opens in a new window)

Extract from Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser - Saturday 16 July 1921:

UNVEILING WARWICK’S WAR MEMORIAL.
TRIBUTE TO THE GALLANT DEAD.
HUGE CROWD IMPRESSIVE CEREMONY.

There has been no more inspiring sight in Warwick for many a long day than the one which was witnessed on Sunday afternoon, when the memorial which has been erected to the memory of the town’s gallant heroes who fought and died in the great war, was unveiled by Lord Algernon Percy. The hour fixed for the ceremony was 4 o’clock, but long before that time hundreds of people began to flock into Church-street to pay homage to those who sacrificed all that we might live. In a space roped off in the road stood a band of people, many dressed in deep mourning and holding beautiful floral tributes in their hands. They were easily distinguishable as the relatives of lost loved ones —mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, who learned the terrible realities of war even though they came not within the sound of the guns. During those awful months of Armaggedon they experienced the agonies of waiting for the last shot to be fired, when the great re-union might come, when those who fought the country’s battles might return to land flowing with honey and all the good things of life. Alas! that day never came for them. Instead they were left to mourn for those they loved but who would never return.

By the erection of Warwick’s war memorial a common shrine has been provided for them, symbolising the town’s gratitude to gallant army of dead men whose memory will ever thus be kept green.

Viewed from above the huge crowd which assembled in Church-street presented a remarkable sight. It was a sea of human faces, and there were mixed emotions of sorrow and pride pulsating through the hearts of the men and women who gathered together to join in this common act of remembrance to the fallen heroes. There must have been quite 5,000 people present, and the heat was terriffic.

Shortly before 4 o’clock members of the Corporation, followed by the veterans from Leycester’s Hospital, arrived and took up position by the side of the memorial by the Library wall. A few seconds later the choir of St. Mary’s emerged from the church singing “Brief life is here our portion,” and the choristers were followed by the following clergy: Canon Llewellyn Wood and the Rev. B. H. Green (St. Mary’s), Rev. W. J. Easterbrook (St. Paul’s), Rev. F. H. Lawson (St. Nicholas), Rev. J. H. Belibitz (All Saints) Canon Toovey (Leycester's Hospital), Rev. A. Capes Tarbolton (Conregational), and Rev. S. Lawson (Wesleyan).

The members of the Corporation present were the Mayor (Councillor Airth Richardson), the Deputy Mayor, (Dr. H. Walins). Aldermen J. W. Mann, Sir Michael Lakin, J. C.Purser. J. G. Mellor, J. Smith and Lloyd Evans; Councillors Mrs. R. Bullock, W. T. Collier, A. White, A. E. Smith, Dr. H. Tibbits, C. W. Martin, W..J. Power. W. J. A. Owen. A. Tandy, D. Hackelson. A. B. Harrison. O. R. Robinson, W. Pearson. - Magistrates : Messrs. W. Coltart. J. W. Glover, F. H. Moore, R. Bullock, S. Jones, W. H. Austin, F. C. Claymore.- Officials : The Town Clerk (Mr. H. J. Brown). Clerk of the Peace (Mr. H M. Blenkinsop), Clerk of the Magistrates (Mr. J. Tibbits), Borough Treasurer (Mr A. Trafford), Surveyor(Mr. R. Wormell), Accountant ( Mr. J. Walshaw), Inspector of Nuisances (Mr. F. J Allen), Auditor (Mr. P. Bailey).

In addition to these there were also noticed Lord and Lady Ilkeston, Mr. G. P. Bancroft, Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Chadwick, Miss Walker (Myton), Mr. C. H. Belcher (representing the Y.M.C.A.), Mr, Gilliam (Comrades of the Great Wari) Mr. Lloyd Chadwick, and Mr. H. G. Godfrey Payton. Captain E. W. Nelson, hon. secretary of the Memorial Committee, took an active part in making the arrangements for the ceremony.

The ex-Service men of the town, under Brig.-General E. A. Wiggin, formed a bodyguard at the rear of the relatives.

THE UNVEILING.

The service commenced with the singing of the hymn “O God our help in ages past,” following which the unveiling of memorial took place.

Lord Algernon Percy said the memorial was erected to perpetuate the memory of those who died for King and Country in the Great War. He believed between 1,200 and 1,500 served and 310 made the supreme sacrifice. Their names were on the memorial.

A string was then pulled by Lord Algernon and this caused the Union Jack which had covered the names of the dead to fall aside.

The dedication prayers were then offered by Canon Wood, after which the hymn “Jesu lover of my Soul” was sung. More prayers were offered by the Rev. A. Capes Tarbolton, and it was here that one appreciated the happy thought which was responsible for both Church of England and Nonconformist ministers taking part in the ceremony. It was only right that this should be so, for the men who fought, as Lord Percy afterwards remarked, came from all creeds and classes of life.

The formal presentation of the memorial to the town was made by Lord Percy, who requested the Mayor (Colonel Airth Richardson) to take it into the safe custody of the Corporation. He said it should recall to mind the deep debt of gratitude we owed to those who saved the country from the oppression of a ruthless and pitiless enemy. It should also remind them of the glorious and gallant deeds of our forces in every quarter of the globe. Their conspicuous courage, endurance, patience, and heroism, could not be adequately described. The records of the Army and Navy were very glorious ones, but they had been made more brilliant owing to the conduct of the soldiers and sailors in the great war. But more than this the memorial should remind them of something more important—the spirit which actuated the men who performed those deeds. They went from all classes and conditions of life—the pick of our manhood—and at any rate early in the war, flocked willingly to their country’s help in her hour of danger. Some gave up wealth, ease and pleasure, some prosperous businesses, and some were too weak to stand the strain. They would ever be remembered with gratitude, and he appealed to his hearers to make themselves worthy of the great sacrifices made by uniting in doing all they could for the country’s good, to restore her prosperity, maintain her stability, and increase the happiness of all her citizens. In conclusion Lord Percy said it was a happy coincidence that Colonel Airth Richardson had the honour of having fought in the war and of holding the high office of Mayor of Warwick that day.

THE MEMORIAL SITE.

The Mayor, who was wearing his chain of office over his uniform as an officer, then replied. He said he thought that some people felt they had chosen the wrong site for the memorial. He could not agree, however, because it was situated close to the corner where the town's roll of honour had previously been and where the relaives of the fallen had been accustomed to visit. In the first place it was a memorial to the dead, but it was also a memorial to those who came after. Children were born during the war would now be able to recognise the names of fathers and brothers whom they had never known.

At the conclusion of the Mayor's remarks, the choir, conducted by Captain A. K. Blackall, F.R.C.O.m sang the anthem, "I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me." The huge congregation then joined in singing "Abide with me," and afterwards the first verse of the National Anthem.

The final and most touching part of the whole ceremony then came. It was the sounding of the Last Post and the Reveille by buglers from the Depot at Budbrooke Barracks. One was thus reminded that though 31o of Warwick's sons gave their lives in a cause which weas universally regarded as a righteous one, theior souls still live.

Afterwards the choir returned to the church singing "Through the night of doubt and sorrow." The relatives and others then placed theuir wreaths at the foot of the memorial and mufled peals were rung on St. mary's Church bells. The amny beautiful floral tributes included the following:- In memory or their heroin devotion and samirle,—marrtek Town conned.

In memory of their heroic devotion and sacrifice. --Warwick Town Council

In memory of our fallen comrades. We do not forget.--" Comrades of the Great War, the British Legion."

In grateful and glorious memory of our fallen comrades. who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914-1919.—Warwick Chamber of Trade.

From the Plasterer's Arms, Avon-street. This is placed here in the memory of the fallen members of the Pipe Club and Sick and Dividend Club of the Plasterer's Arms. They died that we might live.

THE MEMORIAL DESCRIBED

The design of this memorial. and the form it has taken, has been governed by the conditions of the site upon which it is erected. Owing tot he position and area available, the plan of the base and steps is restricted and a vertical treatment became necessary. This has resulted in an "Eleanor Cross" type of memorial. Another, factor was the provision of space for the 310 names of the fallen, which appear upon the four bronze plates. fixed to the lower portion.at the eye level, so that they may be easily read. The details of the work are based upon the 14th Century English Gothic, of which the Beauchamp Chapel is so splendid an example of its development. It the hoped to place four figures in the niches of the next stage, above the name plates - St. george, representing the soldiers of England (facing south); St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors (facing west,); St. Michael, the archangel (on the north, facing the church); "Joan of Arc, " to commemorate the part that women took in the war (facing east). At the sides of the canopies of the niches provided for these figures, are carved upon shields the Arms of :—Warwick, Leamington, Coventry, Stratford-on-Avon, Kenilworth, Rugby, Birmingham, and Sutton Coldfield. They give an added richness to the design. In the string course immediately over these shields are carvings, and there are introduced: The Swan of Avon; Dun Cow; Bear and Ragged Staff ; and the Antelope, so intimately connected with the history of the county.

The total height of the memorial is 37 feet in eight stages, including the steps and surmounting carved pinacle. The removal of the projecting wall and pier to the tink-a-tank with the setting back of the gates to the line of the library wall, has materially assisted the appearance of the memorial, and it can now be walked round, and the names on the bronze plates can easily be read.

The work has been satisfactorily carried out by Messrs. Bridgeman and Sons of Lichfield, in Portland stone; the bronze plates by the Birmingham Guild.and the design and superintendence has been the wrok of Mr. C. E. Bateman, F.R.I.B.A., architect, Birmingham, whose name was recommended to the committee by the Royal Academy of Arts.

Photograph Copyright © Gill Cannell & Andrew Dishman 2018

Photograph Copyright © Martin Edwards 2022

TO THE MEMORY
OF THE MEN OF WARWICK
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE GREAT WAR

1914 – 1918

Last updated 25 August, 2022