With many peoples’ thoughts turning to remembrance, we take a look at a unique project underway in Leicestershire which rescues ‘at risk’ war memorials from sale, neglect or destruction, and which could be expanded across the country.
In 1925 an Arch of Remembrance was unveiled in Leicester’s Victoria Park. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who also designed the Cenotaph in London, it commemorated the 12,000 men of the city and county lost during WWI.
Though it provided a focal point for remembrance, the Arch wasn’t the only way local people commemorated those lost during the war. In factories, schools, churches and social clubs, private memorials were set up in their hundreds. They were organised and paid for by family, friends, colleagues and old schoolmates.
After WWII these memorials were often supplemented with additional panels, and many stayed in place often for decades, acting as reminders of the city’s – and the buildings’ – history.
However, changes over the past quarter-century in Leicester and other urban centres have seen many churches, factories, schools and clubs close down or undergo radical change of use.
“To the new owners, these war memorials are often seen as a nuisance,” says Denis Kenyon, co-founder with Chris Stephens of the Leicester City, County & Rutland At Risk War Memorials Project.
Coming from military backgrounds themselves, Denis and Chris knew the historic and symbolic importance of war memorials. During his own service, Denis was commissioned into The West Riding Battalion, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (TA) and later transferred to The Parachute Regiment (TA). Chris was a National Serviceman in The Royal Hampshire Regiment, and saw active service in the Malayan Emergency before joining The Household Cavalry.
In 2012, while recording war memorials for the Imperial War Museum, the pair visited numerous buildings which had been left vacant, derelict or sold for redevelopment. It was clear that the future of the memorials within was in danger.
Denis Kenyon, project co-funder
“There was one church in particular which gave us great cause for concern,” says Denis. “It had closed in 2005, but contained 15 war memorials plus a memorial chapel.”
Shortly after Denis and Chris had finished photographing the memorials, and while they were still exploring how best to safeguard the vulnerable site, vandals struck.
“They came in through one of the memorial stained-glass windows,” say Denis. “They stole whatever they could carry, smashed the remainder and reduced the memorial chapel to matchwood.”
It was shortly after this that the pair founded the Leicester City, County & Rutland At Risk War Memorials Project. Its stated aim is:
“the rescue of war memorials at risk of loss or damage; the relocation of rescued memorials in a suitable new location in the original community; if relocation is impossible then for the memorials to be moved to a safe site for repair, conservation, safekeeping and display; and to encourage individuals, schools, and community groups to become involved in the project’s work and to research, record and learn about the history behind the names on the memorials, the communities they came from and how to conserve memorials in their own communities.”
Working with the Churches Conservation Trust, the project soon found itself a home in a deconsecrated chapel in Leicester city centre. A successful application was also made to the then-Heritage Lottery Fund. Denis continues:
“We had a base and some money. We then started to accumulate, frequently at very short notice and sometimes by accident, various memorials which had been made homeless or were at risk of destruction or sale into private ownership.”
These memorials ranged from large stained-glass windows to rolls of honour and small plaques. Some commemorate an individual, while others list close to 200 names.
“All of the memorials have real sagas behind them,” says Denis. “One plaque was handed to us after thieves stole it, bent it in half to obscure the names and tried to weigh it in for the scrap money.
The memorial from Belgrave Liberal Club in Leicester which thieves attempted to sell for scrap.
“Another memorial was due to be sold abroad to a private collector, but we were tipped-off a few days before and managed to speak to the auctioneer. He spoke to the vendor and, though we never usually buy memorials, we gave him a £500 cheque to ensure that it stayed in the city where it belonged. To the vendor’s credit, he never cashed the cheque.”
Not all memorials end up on display at the project’s base however. Most recently the project has worked with a property company redeveloping the site of the old NATSOPA (National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants) memorial home at Wellesborough. The home was set up in 1921 to commemorate those printers killed in WWI, but closed in 2013 and fell victim to vandals and arson.
The project offered assistance and advice, and the company was able to repair and reinstate the memorial. A rededication ceremony was then held, 100 years to the day after its original unveiling.
“This was a rare case of a company prepared to spend time and money on restoring a vandalised memorial,” says Denis. “As such, we were able to take more of a back seat because we knew the restoration was in good hands.”
Aside from caring for the memorials themselves, the project takes pains to highlight the people behind the names.
“We’ve been able to find out about a huge number of the people listed on our various memorials,” says project researcher Joe Hall. “Generally this includes who they were, where they lived, who their family were and what they did before the war. These biographies are on our website, but we also have print versions available to visitors.
“The majority of memorials the project houses were set up by those closest to the people commemorated,” continues Joe. “As such, researching their lives and giving them back an identity which time and neglect had reduced to only a name seems a fitting way to honour the people whose memorials we’re charged with safeguarding.”
One recent example of rediscovering the person behind the name is the case of H.E. Preston DFM, listed on a school memorial plaque in the project’s care. With only the name to go on, the project set to work.
“After researching locally, online and at The National Archives we were able to put a face to the name Hubert Everard Preston” says Joe. “Though he preferred ‘Bert’ to Hubert.”
Hubert Everard ‘Bert’ Preston. © Helen Dwyer
This bronze WWII memorial, along with a similar one from WWI, commemorated all those from a local school who were killed during the wars. They were retrieved from a cellar where they had been left when the school moved premises in 1979. Bert Preston’s name is in the middle of the right-hand column.
The youngest child by a decade, the project was able to reconstruct something of Bert’s home life as well as an RAF career spent as a wireless operator/air gunner on Hampden bombers. Joe continues:
“Looking through the records we could see that he had endured anti-aircraft fire, night fighters, equipment malfunctions, electrical storms and the loss of friends. We even discovered that on one notable day in May 1940, returning from an attack on Givet aerodrome, Bert had looked down to see Dunkirk aflame. Ringed with searchlights and anti-aircraft guns, he’d watched ships off the coast taking the British Expeditionary Force across the narrow sea to safety.
“He’d also been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for completing 30 operational sorties. He received the medal from King George VI himself, only a month before he was killed aged 22.”
The final piece of the puzzle was obtaining Bert’s casualty file from The National Archives, which detailed events surrounding the loss of his aircraft over Cologne in 1941.
“The documents and photographs in the file allowed us to come full circle, and to finally see why he was on the memorial. It included fascinating papers from the German Red Cross, and heart-wrenching letters between Bert’s family and officials at the Air Ministry. Most amazingly though, through our research we were able to contact a living relative. She only knew of an ‘Uncle Bert’ who had been killed in WWII, so it was wonderful to restore a piece of a family puzzle which had been missing for so long.”
The wireless operator/air gunner of a Hampden manning his guns in 1940; a position well-known by Bert Preston. © IWM HU 107827
Leicester City, County & Rutland At Risk War Memorials Project
If you’re interested in the work of the Leicester City, County & Rutland At Risk War Memorials Project, or are thinking of setting up a similar project in your area, Denis Kenyon can be contacted here. Alternatively, the Project holds a number of Open Days throughout the year, click here to view details.
