BURNHAM ON CROUCH WAR MEMORIAL

The Burnham on Crouch Memorial stands at the edge of the estuary. It takes the form of stone obelisk mounted on a square plinth with a two-stepped base. The commemorative plaques are made of metal and affixed to the sides of the plinth. There are 96 names listed for World War 1 and 28 for World War 2 plus 10 civilians killed in World War 2. The memorial was unveiled and dedicated 14 August 1921; the designer was Mr R Frank Atkinson and the builders were Mild May Ironworks. The names here have been sorted into alphabetical order.

Extract from Chelmsford Chronicle - Friday 19 August 1921, page 2:

BURNHAM WAR MEMORIAL UNVEILED AND DEDICATED.
NINETY-EIGHT WHIO GAVE THEIR LIVES

Photo by W. Barker, Burnham-on-Crouch

The memorial which has been erected at Burnham-on-Crouch to the memory of the men from the parish who fell in the Great War was unveiled and dedicated on Sunday afternoon. It stands on a square island plot of ground opposite the Council buildings, between the High Street and the river. Through the good offices of Mr F. B. Pitcher, the services of Mr. E. Frank Atkinson, F.R.I.B.A., of Queen Anne's Gate, were obtained as honorary architect, and he prepared a design as proportionate as it was unique The site was all levelled to the Quay, and is approached from the High Street and the two sides by broad flights of stone steps. In the centre of the site is an obelisk, standing on a base, on two sides which appear the names the 98 men from the parish belonging to the Army, the Navy, and the Mercantile Marine, who lost lives. On the High Street and river fronts is laurel wreath in bronze, and the following inscription:—" To the memory of those from this parish who gave their lives for their country. 1914-1919." The names are cast on bronze, both this work and the laurel wreaths having been carried out at the Mildmay Ironworks, Burnham. Half the names appear on a plate on the High Street, and the other half on a plate on the river side. The full list is as follow: C. Aldis, W. J Aldis, E. Ambrose, P. F. Ambrose, G. J. Attenborough, H. Attwood, A. J. Barker, W. S. Barker, W. Barker. B. Barnard. C. G. Bourne, A. Bridge, C. E. W. Browne, F. W. Carter, F. R. Clark. W. F. Clark, A. J. Clarke, J. R. Clarke, W. Clow, C. A. Cook, W. G. Cooch, G. Cooper, Arthur B Croxon, Abraham B. Croxon, C. W. Cullem, J. F. Cundy, E. Cundy. A. R. Dilliway, G. G. Dilliway, F. W. Flick, H. Foot, G. Ford, K. T. Freeman, J. H. Gibson, B. C. Hammond, A. J. Hawkes, G. A. Hawkes, W. C. Hawkes, S. Hawkins, E. Hitchen, L. W. Hudson, S. Hart, H. Humphries, H. Jennings, H. S. Larter, G. U. Laws, R. J. Lipscombe, H. W. Livermore, T. Mapes, C. W. Mitchell, H. A. Moreton, A. C. T. Moss, W. Nicholls, S. Newman. R. A. Norris, A. G. Nunn, F. L. Osborne, J. J. Page, J. N. Page, T. Parchment, J. D. Parchment, C. J. Partridge, F. Perry, H. C. Player, C. E. Prior, F E. Ralph, A. J. Ravment, S. E. Richmond. A. Robinson, S. G. Sains, A. E. Sains, G. Smart, F. J. Smith, S. T Smith, A. J. Spooner, F. Alfred Stanes, Arthur Stanes. W. T. Stebbings, F J. Thomas, A. L. Trussell, W. Trussell, G. H. Tunbridge, H. I. Tunbridge, L. Turpin, E. B. J. Walter, S. C. Weedon, G. S. Wessell, A. Whiting, E. Whiting, J. F. Whiting, J. W. A. Willett, A. W. Witney, F. H. Woolf, H. Yardley, W. Yardley. IMPRESSIVE SCENE Probably the biggest crowd which has ever assembled in Burnham was present at the unveiling ceremony. A special stand was erected for the accommodation of the relatives of the fallen men, and the V.A.D. detachments. The Boy Scouts lined the memorial on the High Street side and the Girl Guides on the east side. The local Territorial detachment and a large, number of ex-Service men mustered at the Drill Hall, and marched to the site, under the command of Lieut. L. J. Dilliway, and headed by a detachment of the local coastguard and the combined bands of the Mildmay Ironworks and the Salvation Army. The Territorials and ex-Service men occupied the space at the west of the memorial, and the band, who led the singing of the hymns, formed up on the Quay. The service began with the hymn “O God our help in ages past,” after which the Rev. E. L. Lewis, Congregational minister, read the first seven verses of the 21st chapter of Revelations. The Lord's Prayer followed, and then Mrs. Leslie, who for the past six years has carried out wonderful work among sick disabled soldiers in Burnham and in London, pulled the string which held the national flags over the memorial, and so unveiled it. A beautiful hymn was sung, beginning

“O valiant hearts, who to your glory came Through dust conflict and through battle flame.” MEETING THE CHALLENGE. Mr. Robert Leslie, 0.B.E., then said: “This afternoon you have witnessed the unveiling by Mrs. Leslie of the beautiful memorial erected by you in memory of our heroes who made the supreme sacrifice for their King and Country in the dreadful war that has thrown over the whole world the most terrible and withering blight ever experienced in the memory of man. This month seven years ago the mad dog of Europe let loose his bloodhounds on a peaceful and prosperous world by making war on our neighbours, France and Belgium. There is no doubt now that all his plans for world's war as well as a world's domination, were well and minutely calculated that victory for him would assured, but he, like many other aspiring men who sometimes over-run themselves in their race of selfishness, had overlooked the most important calculation in his war system, namely, the power of the men, women, and boys who run the British Empire. Had he used his knowledge of this fact cautiously, and without selfishness, there would been no war, and he would have had clear conscience and happy mind today, instead being the most miserable man in existence—that is say, if has any soul left. He gave in his moments of madness his challenge to the world, and it was well met by our dear brave men, who from farmhands to shopkeepers, and to the highest in the land, with one mind, body, and soul rose as one man in defence of their King, Homeland, and Empire. Men from all our Colonies, as well as our loyal Indian subjects, came in their thousands to fight the enemy, and if need be to die for the cause of justice and honour. These splendid Indians fought side by side with our grand men, and were proud of the honour to do so. THE SPLENDID BOYS. Knowing all this as you do, I am sure the best thoughts of your hearts for ever go to the splendid boys of this town, for whom the beautiful memorial now unveiled will, I hope, remain for generations to come an emblem of the greatest duty that ever could be performed by men who were lovers of those dear to them and of the country in which they came to life. In addition to the 98 names which appear on the memorial there were upwards of 500 brave men who went from this town do their best to secure freedom and liberty for all, and to them we owe a deep debt of gratitude for what they suffered and endured on the battlefields and in the trenches, also on our battleships, and in the mercantile marine service. No one except those who know the full history in detail of this dreadful war can ever realise the full extent of our nation's debt to the brave men who are gone, and to those who are now with us. We must therefore remember that people of this country who have been saved from the horrors and slavery of German tyranny must one and all —in memory of those who died—do their duty to help those who returned, some of whom are still suffering from the received while on service. I was much impressed by a paragraph which I read in last Sunday's “Observer” which I think is well worthy of notice, as follows:— “For many of us necessarily the first thing in life is, and for ever must be, to be faithful to our unwritten compact with the young souls whose last breath was given for the common cause, for the highest conception of national purpose and human ideals that it was in them to believe. Even the economic salvation of the mass of men would be worked out more straightly and surely if the living generally could contrive to be a little truer to the dead.”

BE TRUE TO THE DEAD. Mr. Leslie concluded: I earnestly pray to God that we all be true to the glorious memory of those who have died for us. The Dedication sentences then pronounced by the Vicar (the Rev. D. L. Williams), followed by prayers both by the Vicar and by the Rev. C. D. Gooding, Baptist minister. “For all the Saints who from their labours rest” was then sung, after which three volleys were fired by a firing party of the Territorials the “Last Post” being then sounded. The Vicar then pronounced the Blessings, which was followed by “The Reveille” and the National Anthem. A large number of beautiful wreaths were afterwards placed on the memorial, including offerings from the Memorial Committee, the urban District Council, the ex-Service men, the Mildmay Ironworks, the V.A.D nurses, etc. The arrangements for the erection of the memorial were carried by a representative committee, with Mr. E. Dilliway as chairman, Mr. J. C. Page as hon. sec., and Mr. F. G. Hawkes hon. Treasurer.

From an old postcard (above)

Photographs below © Gill Cannell and Andrew Dishman 2024

TO THE
MEMORY
OF
THOSE FROM
THIS PARISH
WHO GAVE
THEIR LIVES
FOR
THEIR COUNTRY
IN
THE GREAT WAR
1914 - 1918

Last updated 28 January, 2026