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
Finsthwaite – St Peters Church, Cumbria
KNOWLES & LEWIS Location: St Peters Church, Lowside, Plum Green, Finsthwaite, Cumbria , LA12 8BJ There are two crosses in the church. They are freestanding, and located on the floor in front of the altar on the left hand side. Details on cross: (cross...
Rutland County Museum
ALEXANDER CHARLES NICHOLAS MARCH PHILLIPPS De Lisle Location: Rutland County Museum, Catmos Street, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6HW http://rutlandcountymuseum.org.uk/ GRU LIEUT A C N M P DE LISLE 20.11.17 RIP 21 SQUAD R.F.C. Propeller Cross, the lettering...
Cheddleton – St Edwards Church, Staffordshire
CAPT. T.H.SNEYD Location address: St Edwards Church, Hollow Lane, Cheddleton, Staffordshire, ST13 7HP Details on cross : IN MEMORY OF CAPT. T.H.SNEYD KILLED IN ACTION 2-11-1914 Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): Painted, mounted...
Tonbridge – St Saviour, Kent
2nd LIEUT. O. M. GIBSON Location: In store over kitchen. St Saviour, Dry Hill Crescent, Tonbridge, TN 3BY, KENT. TQ 59025 47447 Details on cross R.I.P. / IN / MEMORY / OF / 2/LIEUT. O. M. GIBSON. 106. BTY. / R.F.A. (sketch) 7th DIV. / DIED / OF / WOUNDS / 27-8-16...
Prittlewell – All Saints Church, Essex
GNR J. P. BROWN Location: All Saints Church, Prittlewell, Southend on Sea, Essex, SS2 5PA Details on cross: G.R.U. 105273 GNR J. P. BROWN 95TH SIEGE BTY R.G.A. 3RD AUGUST 1917 Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): GRU tags Cross...
Glentham – St Peter’s Church, Lincolnshire
LIEUT. W. H. OWSTON Location: The Church of St Peter, 2 Church Cl, Glentham, Market Rasen LN8 2EW Details on cross (Text content of cross): GRU RIP LIEUT. W. H. OWSTON 2/4TH LINCOLN REGT DIED OF WOUNDS 22-10-17 Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): 1 GRU...
Barnburgh – St Peter’s Church, Doncaster
2nd LIEUT W.I.S. HARTLEY Location: St Peter’s Church, Barnburgh, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN5 7ET Details on cross On cross beam 2nd LIEUT W.I.S. HARTLEY On cross shaft (diagonally) In Memory of 1-7-16 RIP On upper half of circle plate 8TH BATT K.O.Y.L.I. On...
Rolvenden – St Mary the Virgin Church, Kent
MULTIPE MARKERS: TENNANT & BARHAM 2/LT. H. TENNANT Location address: St Mary the Virgin Church, High Street, Rolvenden, Kent, England, TN17 4LT TQ 84503 31220 Details on cross: Two tags at top of upper arm with nail marks beneath. Painted inscription...
On the blog
Project update – Isle of Wight to the Isle of Skye
We've all been busy it would seem. We've had a lot of surveys and reports sent in and also a lot of photos. I should make it clear I guess at this point that we don't mind at all if people don't fill in a complete report, anything that helps is fine, we are led by...
Geoffrey George Gunnis – Clyne, Lesboeufs and Kent
Captain Geoffrey George Gunnis, MC 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, May 7th, 1896 – October 13th, 1916 Geoffrey was born at 67 Cadogan Gardens, Chelsea, in London, on May 7th, 1896. He was the first of three sons born to Francis George Gunnis, an East India Co...
Cavell’s original cross
Edith Cavell was born in Swardeston and was executed in Brussels for helping 200 or more Allied soldiers. Memorials to her at St Mary's church include the East Window and the village War Memorial by the south entrance to the churchyard. The Cavell Room through the...
Project update
We are we believe about a quarter of a way through the locations thanks to some sterling work from all of you. What has been especially nice has been the ones that we've been finding that don't appear to have been recorded in any of the semi-official lists, we've...
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
