BRADFORD - WAR MEMORIAL

Compiled and copyright © Martin Edwards 2004

Photograph Copyright © Janice Pedder 2004

TO THE IMMORTAL
HONOUR OF THE MEN
AND WOMEN OF THE
CITY OF BRADFORD
WHO SERVED THEIR
KING AND EMPIRE
1914 - 1918

Their name liveth for evermore

The war memorial was unveiled Saturday 1st July 1922. The monument was designed by Walter Williamson the City Architect and is in the form of a cenotaph built from locally quarried stone from Bolton Woods Quarry. High on the front, the cross symbolises 'sacrifice', and a wreath containing the words 'Pro Patri Mori' (they died for their country) symbolises 'grief'. Two bronze figures of a soldier and a sailor are realistically represented, lunging forward with their rifles. The monument was unveiled on the 6th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme when the Bradford 'Pals' Battalion of the West Yorkshire egiment suffered massive and severe casualties. The roll of honour contained 37,000 names, an astounding figure when it is realised that the crowd attending the unveiling numbered 40,000, just 3,000 more than the men listed. Lieutenant Colonel Alderman Anthony Gadie, who served in France and was a former Lord Mayor of Bradford, carried out the official commemoration, with a dedication read by the Vicar of Bradford, Archdeacon W. Stanton Jones.

No transcription of names available at present - not a light task this memorial.

9 April 2004