War Memorials – WW2 Introduction

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Epsom’s famous clock tower has a plaque:
‘IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY’.
Image courtesy of Clive Gilbert © 2014

All the WW2 casualties have been researched, and the resulting information for each individual
can be found by clicking on the first letter of the surname:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Up until the Great War of 1914-18, community War Memorials were almost unknown. The carnage of what is now known as the First World War led cities, towns, villages and various local and other organisations to find ways of commemorating for posterity the very many of their own people who had lost their lives in the conflict. The imperative was the same after the 1939-45 Second World War.

All the War Memorials of which we are aware are in the Borough of Epsom and Ewell of which we are aware are listed in the table below. (Please let is know if you are aware of any others.)

The Borough’s principal War Memorial is in Ashley Road, Epsom. This was originally established by the then Epsom Urban District Council to commemorate those from Epsom who had fallen in the 1914-18 “Great War”  – now known as the First World War. (Ewell’s WW1 memorial was established by the then Ewell Parish Council at the Dipping Well.)

The Ashley Road memorial has a central cross with a suitable dedication in front of an arc of panels listing the names of the 265 Epsom WW1 casualties. After the Second World War of 1939-45, the now-merged Borough of Epsom & Ewell wished to commemorate those of its service people and civilians who had died during the conflict.

The original dedication on the Ashley Road memorial had read:

“TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND
TO THE LASTING HONOUR
OF THE MEN OF EPSOM
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
THEIR REWARD ALSO IS WITH THE LORD AND
THE CARE OF THEM IS WITH THE MOST HIGH”.

After WW2, the central section of that (the words emboldened above) was amended to read:

“TO THE LASTING HONOUR OF THE
INHABITANTS OF EPSOM
AND EWELL WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
AND THE WORLD WAR 1939-1945“.

However, it was not thought feasible to adapt the overall memorial so that the names of the Borough’s 342 WW2 casualties could be displayed alongside Epsom’s 265 WW1 casualties. Accordingly, it was decided to produce a Borough “BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE“. (Clicking on that link will take you to a page giving more details of the Book and a listing of all the names it contains. Subsequent research has revealed another 300 or so individuals needing to be commemorated, and details of all the WW2 casualties linked to the Borough may be accessed via the A-Z links at the head and foot of this article.)

The cover of the Book of Remembrance and its illuminated title page.
Images courtesy of Clive Gilbert © 2014

Other local WW2 memorials

In addition to the plaque on Epsom’s Clock Tower (as at the head of this article), the other WW2 memorials in the Borough – a mix of new ones and those from WW1 modified to add WW2 names – of which we are aware are as listed below. Click on the links to read about each memorial and the individuals they commemorate. (A further click may be needed at the indexed page to reach that location’s WW2 memorial.)

All these local WW2 casualties have been researched, and the resulting information for each individual can be found by clicking on the first letter of the surname:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z