Roll of Honour - Cambridgeshire - Cambridge St Giles

The St. Giles' War Memorial for 1914-18 war stands in the grounds of the church at the bottom of Castle Hill. The memorial takes the form of a stone crucifix mounted on a square plinth that bears the inscription and names on metal plaques affixed to it, the whole is mounted on a two-stepped base. There are 74 names for World War 1. The memorial was unveiled and dedicated by the Bishop of Ely 17th November 1920. There are 6 burials in the churchyard for the 1914-1918 war and 1 for the 1939-1945 war.

HONOURING THE DEAD.

ST. GILES'.
Unveiling by Major-General Sir G. W. Hare.

In memory of the men of the parish of St. Giles’ with St. Peter who died for their country in the Great War, the memorial erected in St. Giles’ Churchyard was unveiled and dedicated on Sunday afternoon, when there was a large congregation to honour the memory of their fallen heroes. The unveiling ceremony was performed by Major-General Sir G. W. Hare. K.C.M.G., C.B., G.O.C. East Anglian Territorial Division, and the memorial was dedicated by the Ven. W. J. Wickins (late Vicar), Hon Chaplain to H.M. the King. An address was given by the Rev. F. W. Head. M.C., Hon CF. (late Senior Chaplain, Guards Division), and the names the fallen were read out by the Ven. W. J. Wickens. During the service the hymns “O God, our help in ages past,” “Ten times ten thousand,” and “On the Resurrection morning” and Psalm 116-“I am well pleased that the Lord hath heard the voice prayer”- were sung, in addition to the anthem. “The souls of the righteous.” The lesson was taken from Revelations xxi., 1-7, "And I saw a new heaven, and a new earth.” The memorial, which stands just inside the churchyard, takes the form of a crucifix, 15 feet in height, and is executed in Portland stone, with bronze Figure. Above the Figure is the inscription. “Inri,” and at the base of the shaft is carved the word “Pax.” On the front panel is the inscription: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ this cross is set up as a memorial of the men of this parish who died for their country the Great War, 1914-1919. Remember them in your prayers and in your lives.” On the three bronze panels are the following names:

Bertie T Adams,		Cecil Hopkinson,
Frederick W. Adams,		Harry Howlett,
Charles Allensby,		Purefoy G. Huddleston,
Thomas Bell,		James C. Hunt,
Frederick C. Benstead,		Robert O. Kemp,
William Bird,		Charles Knott,
A. Edward A. Boughey,		Arthur Larkins,
Charles Burton,		Albert F. Leech,
Hubert W. Button,		Selwyn Long-Innes,
Percy Caldecoat,		Alfred Marks,
Alfred Calton,		Bertram Metcalfe-Smith,
Albert E. Carey,		Jesse Newman,
Albert E. Chapman,		Wilfrid Newton,
Leonard Chapman,		Walter S. Orpen,
Frederick Christian,		William Parsons,
Frederick Clark,		Arthur H. Penton,
George R. Clark,		Frederick Potter,
Eric W. Cowley,		William Potter,
Ernest Daisley,		Ernest Randall,
Leslie Daisley,		Donald Rayner,
Erasmus Darwin,		Ernest Reynolds,
Leonard P. Dear,		Arthur Rich,
Charles Death,		William A. Rich,
Clarence Death,		William Shaw,
Samuel Drake,		Hugh F. Russell-Smith,
Herbert H. Ezard,		Charles Sorley,
Frederick Fishpool,		Ernest J. Taylor,
Robert Game,		Robert I. Thorpe,
Edward Gawthrop,		John Tilley,
Arthur G. Gedge,		John W. Trezise,
George J. Gould,		Alfred Wehrle,
Anthony F. Gay,		Victor Wilson,
Philip Hankin,		Stanley E. Wing
William E. Hartley,		Frederick W. Wolfe
Albert Haylock,		Patrick Wood,
Edward Haylock,		John A. Wright,
Bertram Hopkinson,		William Wright.

As far as possible seats were arranged for the relatives, in addition to whom there was a remarkably large gathering in the churchyard and even in the road outside. Before the opening of the service the choir were led from the church by members of the Cambridge Boy Scouts.

CRUCIFIX CORNER.

In a brief opening address, the Rev. W. L. Arrowsmith, M.C. (curate-in-charge), said 73 men who lived in that parish and attended that church had laid down their lives for their country, and in their memory this memorial been erected at a cost of between £300 and £400 collected by their friends. The crucifix told us the price of our redemption was the price of blood of the Son of God, and by this memorial they were reminded that the price of England’s freedom was the price of blood their own brothers. It was thought that there could be no more suitable form pf memorial than this crucifix. It stood at the cross-roads and reminded one of that famous crucifix on the Somme battlefields—the scene of so many valiant deeds—which became known as Crucifix Corner.

THE VISION OF SELFLESSNESS.

The Rev. F. W. Head said this was a day of remembrance of the brave deeds our men and the men of our Allies, and this day of remembrance was specially brought home to the people of that parish by the memorial which was to be dedicated to God and in memory of those brave men of that parish who gave their lives. With all the splendour there came all the sadness, and over practically every home of England there had come the shadow death. There were three facts connected with the war of which the speaker would remind them, because he believed to each fact there was a Christian answer. The first was the fact of death which had stalked through Europe in these last years. We Christians had no special theories about death; we had no special explanation as to what happened after death, but we just met the fact of death with the fact that He in whom we believed died and rose again. That was all, and that was everything, too. So often were those brave men on the other side laid to rest in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, and that was our Christian answer to the fact of death.

The second fact was the fact of our loss. We wanted those brave men back in our national life to-day, for there were many taking the lead now who would not be taking if those better ones had been back, and our national life might have been much better. When we thought of our loss we were inclined to think God had forgotten ns, but if we looked back to the first days of Christianity we found just the same thing, and he believed we were standing on the threshold of another Day of Pentecost. He believed we could never be just the same as we were before we saw all that wonderful vision of selflessness in the war, and he believed that those who had gone were still with us in the spirit. Thus there was death and the Resurrection of Christ, and there was loss and the Spirit of Christ coming back with another Day of Pentecost, and then there was the remembrance of it all. Sometimes the war seemed so far off and easy to forget, and this memorial was a reminder; we all wanted reminders because in our busy life it was so easy to forget.

"I commend to you to remember those whom you have lost,” the speaker concluded, "and as you seek for power through our Lord and Master, Who laid down His life for you, so at the same time remember those who have gone, that you may have something of their power and of their example, and that you, too, may live a selfless life.

THE UNVEILING.

Major-General Hare said this memorial recorded the names and should preserve the memory of the men of that parish who gave their lives in the great fight for right, but that was not all. It was intended to be a constant reminder of the great lesson of duty and self-sacrifice which these men taught. In this country it seemed that there was a great tendency to forget all about the war, or to remember only the horrors and forget, or belittle, the lessons to be learned from it. It was true the spark remembrance sometimes burst out into flame, as on Armistice Day, but that was only a spasmodic revival fanned by a passing gust of sentiment. The spark would soon die out again, and it was to memorials like this that we looked to see that the spark was not altogether quenched. He did not agree with people who said nobody had been improved by the war. It was his firm belief that there was scarcely man who went out who did not come back—if he came back all—a belter man and a better Christian than before he went out. He may not have gone any further towards solving the difficulties of religious belief, but he went a long way towards learning the lesson of unselfishness and thinking less of himself and more of other people than he would had he stayed behind.

The General then unveiled the monument “To glory of God and in memory of the fallen,” and the dedication of the memorial was performed by the late Vicar.

After the National Anthem had been sung, the “Last Post” was sounded Mr. L. T. Stoakley, late of the 1st Gordon Highlanders.

CAMBRIDGE ST. GILES WAR MEMORIAL