Lest We Forget, part 12: Adding the Second World War Names

Part 12 of 13 of Lest We Forget, a history of remembrance in Harpenden and St Albans. Read the whole illustrated book.

Both towns added to their existing memorials rather than building new ones, and the results sit side by side with the First World War names. Counts differ slightly between sources, so the table gives ranges.

• First World War names — Harpenden, Church Green: 162 to 164 · St Albans, St Peter's Street: 634 to 640
• Second World War names — Harpenden, Church Green: 108 to 110 · St Albans, St Peter's Street: 162 to 168
• Second World War names added — Harpenden, Church Green: Plaques recast and unveiled on 6 November 1949 · St Albans, St Peter's Street: After 1945; three more added in 2001
• Listed status — Harpenden, Church Green: Grade II, listed 1984 · St Albans, St Peter's Street: Grade II
• Later changes — Harpenden, Church Green: One more name added in 1996; cleaned and repointed in 2009 · St Albans, St Peter's Street: Cleaned in 1985; lettering restored in 2001

Harpenden: the 1949 rededication

In Harpenden, the names of the Second World War dead were added to the cross four years after the war ended. The Rector rededicated it on Sunday 6 November 1949, when the recast plaques were unveiled. A third bronze tablet records the names from the second war. The inscription now refers to the Great Wars, 1914 to 1919 and 1939 to 1945, and the words "gratitude, love and pride" remain from the original 1920 dedication.

St Albans: a wall in front of the cross

In St Albans, the Second World War names were added on a sloping stone wall in front of the cross, within a raised flower bed. The original names remain on the panels of the plinth above. On 31 October 2001, three more names were added to the Second World War list, and the lettering of the whole memorial was restored.

Other places where names are kept

• St Nicholas Church, Harpenden, with 106 First World War names, eight of whom are not on the town cross.
• High Street Methodist Church, Harpenden, where one tablet records the dead of both wars.
• The Cathedral's War Memorial Chapel, opened in June 1995, which holds the Diocesan Book of Remembrance.
• St Albans School, whose memorial outside the entrance commemorates 87 old boys killed in the First World War.
• The Rothamsted main building, with the staff memorial tablet hanging since 1920.

Remembering again

The names are not fixed. Harpenden added a name in 1996 and St Albans added three in 2001, and memorials keep appearing. The Harpenden cross was floodlit in red on 11 November 2020, a hundred years after its dedication. The Kings Road memorial was unveiled in 2023. In 2015, a paving stone was laid for Edward Warner. In each case, a community decided that a name or a story was still owed a place in the town.

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Next: Remembrance Today: Services and Walks →

📖 Read the whole illustrated book. Turn the pages like a real book, or swipe on your phone.

All 13 parts

1. Introduction: Why We Remember
2. August 1914: Two Towns Go to War
3. Harpenden in the Great War: Camp, Hospital and Home Front
4. St Albans in the Great War: A Garrison Town
5. The Fallen: The People Behind the Names
6. Building Memory: The Memorials of 1920 and 1921
7. The Street Memorials of the Abbey Parish
8. Private Edward Warner VC: The Straw Hat Maker from Cannon Street
9. Between the Wars: Learning the Ritual
10. 1939 to 1945: Harpenden at War
11. 1939 to 1945: St Albans at War
12. Adding the Second World War Names (you are here)
13. Remembrance Today: Services and Walks