Gravesham's War Memorials

After the First World War, many war memorials were created to honour those who had died. Research for this project has now identified more than 100 war memorials and other forms of commemoration across Gravesham, ranging from the large civic memorials to church and workplace tablets, Rolls of Honour, memorial halls, windows, bells, gates and individual plaques.

When the First World War began, local newspapers printed Rolls of Honour listing local men who were Regular soldiers, Reservists, Territorials and Volunteers who were about to play a part in the coming conflict. The Gravesend Reporter — or, to give it its full title, the Gravesend & Dartford Reporter, Northfleet Reporter, North Kent & South Essex Advertiser — was one of the newspapers which published these lists on a weekly basis, along with the Kent Messenger, then published as the Kent Messenger & Gravesend Telegraph and Dartford News.

As the war continued, the names of those killed, wounded, missing or taken prisoner appeared alongside these Rolls of Honour. After the Armistice, communities began the difficult task of deciding how those who had died should be permanently remembered.

The resulting memorials took many different forms. There are the familiar stone crosses and monuments erected by towns and villages, but also memorial tablets and plaques in churches, schools and workplaces, Rolls and Books of Honour and many other forms of commemoration. Some employers, clubs and other organisations erected their own memorials to members of their workforce or organisation who had died.

Further memorials were created following the Second World War. In some places the names of the Second World War dead were added to existing memorials, while elsewhere new memorials were erected. Significantly, neither of the two principal civic memorials at Gravesend and Northfleet records the names of those who died during the Second World War. Their Second World War dead therefore have to be identified through other memorials, Rolls of Honour, Commonwealth War Graves Commission records and contemporary sources.

Not all of Gravesham's war memorials have survived. Some have been moved as buildings have closed or changed use, others are now held in storage, and a number are known to have been lost or destroyed. In some cases their existence and the names they contained can now only be established from contemporary newspaper reports, photographs and other surviving records.

Researching the Names

The names recorded on a war memorial do not necessarily provide a complete record of all those from a particular town, village or parish who died as a result of war.

Different criteria were used when memorials and Rolls of Honour were compiled. A person might be commemorated where they were born, where their parents lived, where they had worked, attended school or church, or where they were living when they enlisted. Consequently, the same casualty may appear on several memorials, while others with equally strong local connections may not appear on any surviving memorial.

The research on these pages therefore goes beyond simply transcribing the names. Census returns, military records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission records, civil registration, electoral registers, newspapers and other contemporary sources have been used to identify the people commemorated and establish their connections with the local area.

The research is continuing. New memorials and names are still being identified, while surviving records sometimes allow the names from lost memorials to be recovered and the stories of those commemorated to be reconstructed.