The London and North Western Railway War Memorial is a First World War memorial located outside Euston station in London, England. The memorial was designed by Reginald Wynn Owen, architect to the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), and commemorates employees of the LNWR who were killed in the First World War. Some 37,000 LNWR employees left to fight in the war—around a third of the company's workforce—of whom over 3,000 were killed. As well as personnel, much of the company's infrastructure was turned over to the war effort. Of the £12,500 cost of the memorial, £4,000 was contributed by the employees and the company paid the remainder. The memorial consists of a single 13-metre (43-foot) tall obelisk on a pedestal. At the top, on each side, is a cross in relief and a bronze wreath. At the four corners of the base are four over-life-size statues of military figures—an artilleryman, an infantryman, a sailor, and an airman. The memorial was unusual among those from the First World War in featuring an airman so prominently. The memorial was unveiled on 21 October 1921. Over 8,000 people attended the ceremony, mostly LNWR employees and their families, including three who earned the Victoria Cross in the war. Tensions remained following a strike two years earlier and the speeches focused on patriotism and duty, encouraging the workers to follow the example of their dead comrades. The memorial and two entrance lodges are all that remain of the former Euston station complex, the station having been rebuilt in the 1960s. An office building was erected between the memorial and the station in the 1970s, obscuring the view of it from the station entrance. The memorial is a grade II* listed building.
Background The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was one of the largest railway companies, and one of the largest private-sector organisations, in Britain in the early 20th century. During the First World War (1914–1918), it turned much of Crewe Works, its main engineering facility, over to the war effort. The skilled employees there began manufacturing artillery shells and other munitions, in addition to fulfilling a demand for new locomotives, wagons, and coaches to transport troops and equipment. Many railway workers were in reserved occupations and not liable to be conscripted. Prior to the introduction of conscription, over 4,000 LNWR employees had volunteered for the armed forces, 1,100 of them from Crewe Works. By the end of the war, 34 per cent of the railway's employees—37,742 men—had left to fight, of whom 3,719 were killed. Three employees were awarded the Victoria Cross (VC)—Lance Corporal John Alexander Christie, Private Ernest Sykes, and Private Wilfred Wood; the LNWR named a locomotive after each of them. Thousands of war memorials were built across Britain following the war, including many by private companies to commemorate their employees who were killed in the war. The LNWR's memorial cost around £12,500, of which about £4,000 was donated by LNWR staff and the company paid the remainder. It was designed by the company's architect, Reginald Wynn Owen, and built by R. L. Boulton & Sons. Wynn Owen also designed a war memorial for the North London Railway, which was controlled by, and later absorbed into, the LNWR.
Design
The memorial consists of a single obelisk, 13 metres (43 feet) high in Portland stone, which stands on a tall pedestal and a circular base of grey granite. At its foot, the obelisk is moulded to the base and decorated with a reed band. On each side of the obelisk, near the top, is a bronze wreath and a stone cross in relief. The only inscription on the obelisk is IN MEMORY OF OUR GLORIOUS DEAD on the south face (the front as one walks towards Euston station), though a granite tablet in front of the memorial contains the further inscription: In grateful memory of 3719 men of the London and North-Western Railway Company who for their country, justice and freedom served and died in the Great War 1914–1919. This monument was raised by their comrades and the company as a lasting memorial to their devotion. Further tablets were added later to commemorate casualties from the Second World War, by which time the LNWR had been merged into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Above the tablets is the inscription "Remember the men and women of the London Midland and Scottish Railway 1939–1945". Buttresses protruding from the pedestal on four sides act as steps; on top of each is a bronze over-life-size statue. The four figures represent the infantry, artillery, Royal Navy, and the Royal Flying Corps (which was amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force in 1918), each statue standing with its head bowed in mourning, resting on an upturned rifle (reverse arms). The memorial is unusual amongst First World War memorials in featuring the fledgling air force so prominently. The figures were modelled by Ambrose Neale, chief artist at Boulton & Sons. Although obelisks are not inherently associated with Christianity, Wynn Owen later said that he intended the crosses to symbolise the Christian ideals for which those commemorated had fought and died. The company's in-house magazine, the LNWR Gazette, also saw it as symbolising the unity of living and dead Christian believers. The Gazette praised the "simple grandeur of the structure [which] corresponds to the simplicity and grandeur of those to whom it is raised". Wynn Owen described the obelisk as "entirely devoid of ornament so that the eye is drawn up to the crowning element of the design [the crosses] without distraction". He was adamant that the memorial was to honour the dead and was not in any way a victory monument.
History
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