Two Worcester War Memorials
Posted in Trips, War Memorials at 12:00 on 14 July 2012
There are memorials to three wars just by Worcester Cathedral, on the town side.
The first I came to was the one for the South African War (the Second Boer War.)
Just a bit further on there is a memorial to both World Wars. This has no names on it. I assumed there is another memorial elsewhere in Worcester that does that. (A quick internet search suggests not, however, but there are numerous memorials in various churches etc.)
Tags: Second Boer War, South African War, the Boer War, Worcester, Worcester Cathedral, World War 1, World War 2, WW1, WW2, WWI, WWII
Stephen Green
13 November 2021 at 21:58
Thank you for this. I have been rather upset by the war memorial to World War 1 in Worcester having no names written on it.
The Worcestershires featured strongly at the Battle of the Somme, and large numbers of troops died, and many have no known grave.
One of them was my 22 year old great uncle Private George Beadsmore, who died on the 3rd of July 1916.
While there is a written memorial for George and his fallen colleagues at Thiepval in France, maybe this lack of named recognition on UK soil for these brave souls can one day be remedied.
jackdeighton
13 November 2021 at 22:48
Stephen Green,
This memorial was obviously not designed to have names on it. Perhaps the sheer number of Worcester(shire) deaths made that impractical; the space it occupies does not lend itsef to a larger memorial.
I am fairly sure that there must be a Roll of Honour somewhere in Worcester (possibly in the Cathedral itself?) where the dead will be commemorated.
I’m sad to hear about your great uncle.
I’ve been to Thiepval and the Menin Gate – and Tyne Cot Cemetery. The number of names on these is overwhelming.
Thank you for looking in and commenting.
Stephen Green
25 February 2022 at 23:17
Thank you very much Jack. Some of us in the family still keep the flag flying for George. I will keep searching for written acknowledgement of his sacrifice on UK soil, but by way of a comparison my better half’s great uncle, who was in the Royal Scots, died on the first day of the Somme, has no known grave, and is commemorated by name on the regiment’s monument in Stirling.
War is such a terrible thing – it is so sad that today we again find ourselves witnessing a violent invasion in Eastern Europe on our TVs.