THE PROJECT
THE HISTORY
THE SURVEY
LOCATIONS
Update
Hello all, this project is still open but is currently hibernating. We would love to complete it, but this is very dependent on time and whether we can secure additional funding to pursue it.
Thanks to everyone who has been involved, including those who still are, and all those who visit and comment or share, it has so far been a terrific success, we hope to extend that in the future.
In the meantime we fully intend to keep the site live in its current form, and are still taking any info you have with a view to one day finishing the database as time allows.
Nick & Tim. April 2023.
Recent marker reports
London – St Michaels, Belgravia
2 Crosses 2/LT. C.M. PENN, Location: St. Michael’s, Chester Square, Town/village: Belgravia County: London Details on Cross: 4/H/6 2/LT. C.M. PENN, 6/ R. BDE ATTD. S.L.I. 11-2-15 (please note actual initial is “G” not “C”). Text type: Stamped on metal strips. (G.R.U)...
London – St Sepulchre Newgate
6th Battalion London Regiment Date of survey: 16th July 2016 Location: St. Sepulchre Without Newgate Town/village: London County: London Details on Cross: Almost unreadable, but see nearby details on plaque below. Text type: Handwritten. Cross dimensions Unable to...
London, All Hallows by the Tower
Three crosses Major B. Tower Date of survey: 15th July 2016 Location: All Hallows By The Tower Town/village: London County: London Details on Cross: Major B. Tower, 5th R.FUS, 22-8-18 Text type: Stamped on metal strips (G.R.U.) Cross dimensions Shaft Height: 113cm...
Swardeston, St Marys – Norfolk
Date of survey: 16/07/16 Location: St. Mary's Church Town/village: Swardeston County: Norfolk Details on cross: Handwritten on paper and on the wood, illegible due in part to the glass and to wear and time. believed to come from the TIR National where her execution...
Sandwich, St Peters – Kent
Date of survey: 15/07/16 Location: St. Peter's Church, Market Street Town/village: Sandwich County: Kent Details on cross: Small metal plaque with GRU. Round top of circle: QUO.FASER.GLORIA. Round bottom of circle: DUCUNT.UBIQUE IN Memory of MAJOR R.D. HARRISSON...
Wissett St Andrews – Suffolk
Date of survey: 13/07/2016 Location: St. Andrew’s Church Town/village: Wissett County: Suffolk Details on Cross: I.W.G.C. 12413. L. CPL. W. KEMP. SUFFOLKS G.R.U. A.R.36. Text type: Metal tags Cross dimensions: Shaft Height: 1150mm Beam width: 410mm Width of wood: 75mm...
Blyford All Saints – Suffolk
Date of survey: 13/07/2016 Location: All Saints Church, Town/village: Blyford County: Suffolk Details on Cross: KILLED IN ACTION RIP CAPT. W.E. DAY. R.E 5TH JUNE 1916 Text type: Painted Text Cross dimensions Shaft Height: 1150mm Beam width: 740mm Width of wood: 113mm...
On the blog
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
About the project
Wooden Battlefield Crosses and grave markers exist all across Great Britain and indeed across the world. You can find them in churches, memorial halls, chapels, museums and private dwellings. Although various lists exist there is no definitive study of them; the available information is often buried in collections of other memorials. These are deeply personal connections with the people involved in the conflict and form a direct link to the families, loved ones and communities who were left behind.
The aim of this project is to try and provide an online resource which creates a place to find the information about these curious objects, where they exist, how to access them and what they meant a century ago, how they continue to be part of the communities they still exist in and how people continue to engage and respond to them as a link the link to First World War.
Ultimately the intention is to list every single battlefield cross or wooden grave marker returned from the lines in Europe to Great Britain after the war ended. The website will hopefully provide a resource that will give everyone access to information on as many of the locations and as much detail as possible about the stories surrounding the people whose graves they marked in France and their symbolic return to the people they left behind.
We need your help…
You can send us information on your local wooden crosses and battlefield markers, whether it be your own photos, photos you have permission to use from a local archive, details of the building and how the marker has become part of the story of it. We also need your research on the soldiers, their life and service, their families, the incidents surrounding their death and the eventual return of the grave marker to Britain and back to the community where the person came from.
We have provided an easy guide to help you to survey, photograph and research these sites and a rough but growing list of locations which we will hopefully be building on as more information comes to light. We will also be putting together an online guide looking at how and where to research the stories of the men these crosses are named for and how you might be able to look into the story behind them to build an online collection which everyone can use to explore these fascinating memorials.
Contact us
Have you done a survey or do you fancy having a go at one? Maybe you aren’t sure what to do or maybe you have already completed some research on a battlefield cross you’d like to add to the project or share via the website.
Perhaps you think you may have something nobody has seen in nearly a century in your loft or shed? Let us know.
Please send us an email to info@thereturned.co.uk
