Introduction

There are several different War Memorials in Cambridge, each established at different time and with different agendas. The most official of them is the Cambridge Cenotaph, but even it has a few errors on it, and inconsistencies have seemingly crept in across the board.

Cambridge Museum curator Eris Parker set out to put the World War One names right on the Cenotaph, which now has a much better representation of Cambridge's dead from that war. But so far the World War Two section has not been researched enough to highlight the errors and attempt to correct them. Therefore I shall attempt to make sense of it here.

CAMBRIDGE CENOTAPH

The Cambridge Cenotaph was built in 1923. It is situated right in the centre of town, in Jubilee Gardens which is the little park in front of the Cambridge Town Hall. The Town Clock also stands in the gardens, and the Cenotaph is bordered by Victoria and Lake Streets.

Many of Cambridge's men and boys lost their lives in both World Wars. The Cenotaph remembers them, as well as contributions by Cambridge men in other conflicts. There are several parts to the Cenotaph. The most noticeable is the obelisk, which is flanked to the north by the statue of a young man who represents 'Youth'

On the opposite side of the obelisk is a statue of a lion, representing our links to the Empire

And the Lion looks upon the tablets which contain the Memorial Rolls for both World Wars. The Great War dead are in the centre, and the Second World War dead are represented on either side.

 

Below are the two Memorial Rolls from World War Two

A through to J

K through to Y

Below I have listed all the names of the men on the Cambridge Cenotaph. Beside the name is their unit in the Armed Forces, and in most cases a link to a website about them or to their Commonwealth War Graves Commission page

World War Two

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

There are some errors and omissions on the Cenotaph. Others not on the Cenotaph

BROWN Iorwaith Norman NZ Armoured Corps Here

HARVIE Guy de Laval RAF Here

JESSOP Arthur Lawrence RNZAF Here

MACK Thomas Allan NZ Merchant Navy Here

ROSEVEARE Marshall Thomas NZ Infantry Here

SMALL Herbert Leslie NZ Machine Gun Corps Here

THORN James Soloman Not on CWGC

THORNE Ronald Marshall NZ Artillery Here

Rugby Memorial Park

All the names listed above that appear on the Cenotaph also appear on the Roll of Honour at the Rugby Memorial Park gates in Taylor Street, Cambridge, as well as several extra names of Cambridge district men who were not included on the town's Cenotaph. The extra names are listed below:

Returned Service's Association Club Rooms Memorial

Of course sadly more names were to be added to the World War Two list as the war progressed. The boards are now proudly displayed in the Military Room of the Cambridge Museum since the Cambridge RSA's closure in 2004.

 

Returned Services Association Cemetery Wall of Remembrance

This is a wall and gate with Rolls of Honour of Cambridge men who gave their lives in for World Wars One and Two, and the Boer War. It is situated in the Returned Services Association Lawn Cemetery, Hautapu.

Photos Coming Soon

St Andrew's Church

St Andrew's Anglican Church, which can be found on the corner of Hamilton Road and Victoria Street (known locally as 'Church of England corner') is a regimental church. It has a stunning War Memorial inside in the form of beautiful stained-glass windows. One set depicts New Zealanders landing at Gallipoli (our first WWI battle) and New Zealanders storming the walls at Le Quesnoy, France (our last WWI battle). Also one panel depicts a soldier kneeling at the foot of the crucifix.

The other window set remembers World War Two, and there is a panel for each service, the Royal New Zealand Navy, the New Zealand Army and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. This window is seen below, note the crests of each service at the bottom of each panel.

Memorial Seats

In the grounds of St Andrew's Church there are two memorial seats, presented to the church by the families of two airmen who were killed during the Second World War, Leslie Buttimore and Bill Hewett.

Above: The Inscription reads:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
F/O LESLIE N. BUTTIMORE R.N.Z.A.F. 7/8/43

 

Above: The Inscription reads:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
P/O WILLIAM U. HEWETT R.N.Z.A.F. 12/1/42

 

Trinity St Paul's Union Church Rolls of Honour

A couple of memorial rolls appear on the exterior wall of Trinity St Paul's Union Church  on the corner of  Queen and Bryce Streets. This church is combined with the Presbyterian s , and I believe the rolls came from the old Methodist Chapel, which once stood at this place.  The Presbyterian Church was in Victoria Street (it is now a craft shop, opposite St Andrew's Church). The rolls only seem to contain names of people who were Methodist, but it includes three Cambridge airmen from World War Two; Ivor James, Jimmy Meredith and William Telfer.

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