Monument | War dead | WW1

St George in the East war memorial

Erection date: 15/11/1924

Inscription

{On the east-facing side of the plinth:}
To the glorious memory of the brave men from St George-in-the-East who laid down their lives in the Great War, 1914 - 1918.
Give thanks to God O England for thy sons.

{And on the same side, on the platform supporting the plinth:}
And those who died in World War II, 1939 - 1945

{The other three sides carry the list of 96 names, see Subjects commemorated for this list.}

The "Give thanks" phrase does not appear to be a quotation, as we first thought, or if it is, it's eluded us.

St George's website has a good page on this memorial and how it came to be.  And there we found a list of the names on the memorial which is very useful since the stone is rather weather-worn.  However some of the names on the website do not match the names that can be easily read on the monument, for reasons we can't explain.  So, for our list we have taken the monument as our primary source and only used the website where the monument is illegible.

The St George's website also informs that the list of names was drawn from the wider district and included names from other denominations, indeed, a representative of what we would now call the Jewish community made an address at the unveiling ceremony.  The memorial does not carry any overtly Christian imagery, even though the sword was designed as a "cross-hilted crusader's sword" - reminding us of George W. Bush's "crusade on terror" gaffe.

Site: St George in the East war memorial (1 memorial)

E1, Cannon Street Road, St George's Gardens

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
St George in the East war memorial

Subjects commemorated i

World War 1

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came a...

Read More

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do vis...

Read More

Show all 98

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
St George in the East war memorial

Created by i

Joseph Clayton

Architect active in 1924.  He was a war veteran and had been a member of the ...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Sir Joseph Bazalgette

Sir Joseph Bazalgette

WC2, Victoria Embankment

Bronze 1899

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Sacred Heart of Jesus

Sacred Heart of Jesus

N7, Eden Grove, Sacred Heart of Jesus

To the left of this church is a Victorian school building. High up on its wall is a large, flat, but sort of secret, Christian cross, cre...

War dead | WW1
35 subjects commemorated
Korean War memorial

Korean War memorial

SW1, Victoria Embankment, Victoria Embankment Gardens - Whitehall section

The phrase "distant obligation..." references a cabinet meeting on 25 June 1950 at which, in the context of British involvement, Korea wa...

3 subjects commemorated, 13 creators
Upper North Street School WW1 bomb - memorial

Upper North Street School WW1 bomb - memorial

E14, East India Dock Road, Poplar Recreation Ground

From IBHB: "Unveiled by Major General Ashmore who commanded the London Air Defence Area which was established largely in response to this...

Civilian war dead | WW1
21 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Hackney Town Hall Cross

Hackney Town Hall Cross

E8, Mare Street, Hackney Town Hall

{On three marble slabs attached to the base of the cross:} To the honoured memory of those employees of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Hac...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Squadron Leader Brian Lane

Squadron Leader Brian Lane

HA5, Barrow Point Avenue, 17

Our thanks to Paul Baderman for the address and the press pack.

War dead | WW2
3 subjects commemorated
Sir Robert Walpole

Sir Robert Walpole

First Prime Minister of Great Britain. An early political victim of satire, the target of Swift, Pope, Fielding, Johnson, Hogarth and Thomas Gay. Walpole responded by setting up the office of the...

Person, Politics & Administration

3 memorials
J. Blakey

J. Blakey

Employed at the Holloway tram garage. Served and was killed in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Gilbert Johnstone

Gilbert Johnstone

Hon. Gilbert Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone. See his brother Francis for family information. President of the Eton Mission Rowing Club in 1934. Attended Eton, leaving before 1883. The Eton House (pdf dow...

Person, Benefactor, Children, Social Welfare

1 memorial