Communal cross for the 22nd Royal Fusiliers (Kensingtons)
Location: St Mary Abbots Church Kensington, London W8 4LA.
Details on cross:
Regimental logo
22 RF
In proud memory of our comrades
375. Sgt. A.T. Herbert
6974. Cpl. B. Gibson
19468. Cpl. J. W Senior
202. Cpl. W. J. Lingwood
1289. L/C Pearce
89. L/C A. E Walton
indecipherable 495. Sgt. R. Germin
51950. Pte. F.P. Woodward
Lieut. M. E. Wardley
47580. Pte. A. G. Bartlett
9455. Pte. E. Durber
24457. Pte. H. J. Moore
61547. Pte. H.J Pratt
22241. Pte. E Arnell
14271. Pte. H. Bear
23657. Pte. J. Bannerman
43691. Pte. C. Forecast
K/1262 L/Sgt. A. Walder
PS6909. L/C J. A. Gallagher
5997. Pte. G. Batte
625564. Pte. C. Barnes
51962. Pte. Hicke
14334. Pte. Chesworth
16960. Pte. F Exeter
6436. Pte. J. Brown
50318. Pte. B.F. Turner
766. Pte. C. T. Crosby
Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): Black paint
Cross dimensions (millimetres please) Unavailable
Other information
Mounting to wall: Mounted to a pillar
Detailing: Some swirling on the arms of the Celtic cross
Condition (cracked, paint peeling, woodwork, damage etc): Fairly good condition, some fading and illegibility.
Notes and observations:
Celtic type cross.
This is a communal cross for the 22nd Royal Fusiliers (Kensingtons), from Oppy Wood, near Arras.
There is a conservation report linked from:
http://www.dbrlimited.com/project/st-mary-abbots-church/
Which gives some background on the cross and the conservation treatments applied. The GRU tags seem to be on the reverse.
The cross is too high up to get measurements, but it is considerably larger than most of the other crosses that the surveyor had seen.
The memorial is registered here http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/47661
Some names vary between the original field cross and the memorial below.
Sgt R Germin becomes Sgt R Jerman
Pte F P Woodward becomes Pte Arthur Walter Woodward
Pte Hick becomes Pte Frederic Bishop Hicks
Underneath the cross mounted to a pillar is an engraved tablet bearing the following words:-
The battlefield cross commemorates men from the 22nd Kensington Battalion ‘The Royal Fusiliers” who fell in the battle of OPPYWOOD 29 April – 3 May 1917
2nd LIEUT MILES EDWARD WARDLEY
SGT CHARLES FREDERICK HACKETT
SGT ALFRED THOMAS HERBERT
CPL BEN GIBSON
CPL JOHN WILLIAM SENIOR
CPL WILLIAM JOHN LINGWOOD
L/CPL JAMES ALOYSIOUS GALLAGHER
L/CPL GEORGE PEARCE
L/CPL ALBERT EDWARD WALTON
SGT RICHARD JERMAN
PTE GERALD BATTE
PTE CHARLES JAMES BARNES
PTE FREDERIC BISHOP HICKS
PTE ARTHUR CHESWORTH
PTE FRANCIS EDWARD EXTER
PTE JOHN BROWN
PTE BENJAMIN PAIN TURNER
PTE CECIL THOMAS CROSBY
PTE ARTHUR WALTER WOODWARD
PTE ARTHUR GEORGE BARTLETT
PTE ERNEST DURBER
PTE HORACE JOHN MOORE
PTE HENRY JAMES PRATT
PTE EDWARD ARNELL
PTE HARRY ARTHUR BEAR
PTE JAMES DONALD BANNERMAN
PTE CHARLES FORECAST
PTE ALBERT WALDER
In 1929 the cross was replaced by a permanent memorial and brought to England. It came to St Mary Abbots in 1949 and was conserved and rededicated in 2014 + LEST WE FORGET
Survey and photographs courtesy of Michael Day
Survey date 25/7/2017
