IPSWICH ORWELL WORKS MEMORIAL

IPSWICH WAR MEMORIAL | Posted on 14th February 2017 |

Image courtesy of Darren Darday.

1914 – 1919

Orwell Works Memorial

WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR

Now sited at The Museum of East Anglian Life

(M.E.A.L)

Bronze, height 64, width 39 Erected in 1919 by their proud and grateful employees.

Ransomes Sims & Jefferies, John Street, Ipswich, Suffolk

Suffolk Chronicle & Mercury Newspaper

ORWELL WORKS WAR MEMORIAL

The above photograph depicts the War Memorial which was unveiled at the Orwell Works, Ipswich, on Thursday. The memorial is in the form of a tablet in cast bronze, 5 feet 4 inches in height by 3 feet 3 inches in width. This tablet contains, in raised lettering, the names of 130 men; it is ornamented in raised relief, and is surmounted by a wreath in bronze. It is mounted on specially selected Portland stone, and has a background of Leicestershire slate, the whole being 9 feet 4 inches by 5 feet 9 inches. It is fixed in a specially made recess in the wall of the main building, near the entrance gate on the east side of John Street, and is sufficiently near the ground level for the names to be easily deciphered.

ORWELL WORKS HEROES.

SERGT. SAUNDERS, V.C., UNVEILING THE MEMORIAL.

A memorial to the men from the Orwell Works who were killed during the Great War was unveiled on Thursday in last week at a ceremony simple but sincere. The ceremony was timed for two o’clock, when the men restart work for the afternoon, and the result was the congregation of a crowd of hundreds, which filled John Street almost from end to end, and which included many of the widows and orphans of those whose names are commemorated upon the memorial.

The memorial tablet is fixed in a specially made recess in the wall opposite the main building, near the entrance gate on the east side of John Street. It consists of a tablet in cast bronze 5ft 4in. high, by 3ft 3in. wide and contains in raised letterings the names of the 130 men from the offices and shops who laid down their lives. There is an ornamental bordering round, and surmounting it is a wreath in bronze.At the top there is an inscription: Employees at the Orwell Works who died for their country in the Great War, with the dates 1914 – 1919, one on each side. At the bottom the inscription reads: “Erected in 1919 by their proud and grateful employers.” This tablet is mounted on especially selected Portland stone, with a background of Leicestershire slate, the whole measuring 9ft 4ins. high, and 5 feet 9ins. wide.

The tablet was covered with the Union Jack, and in front of it had been erected a temporary platform upon which took their places: Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Ransome, Mr. P.E. Ripley, Mr. J.A. Goodwyn, Mr. J.H.W. Pawlyn, Mr. V.W. Bone, Capt. W.M. Eade, and Sergt. A.F. Saunders, V.C. Lined up in front of the platform was a guard of honour, consisting of ex-Service men representative of each of the various departments of the works.

Mr. E.C. Ransome, in a dedicatory speech, said that in all the long history of the firm there had never been a more unique occasion then this present one. With an impulse which all of their hearts shared in common they had met for the unveiling of a memorial in stone and bronze which had been erected as a tribute for all time to the imperishable deeds and memory of those who went out from these workshops and offices to face the common enemy of civilisation, and who gave their lives as a sacrifice to patriotism and duty. When the call to arms was heard, more then 1,400 of their men and boys went out to join that great army of Britain’s sons, which stood as a wall of sure defence between them and deadly peril. Of those brave men many won the cherished distinction of service, but more than one in three of them paid a heavy price in wounds, suffering, and death.

Sergt. Saunders then unveiled the memorial, all present standing bareheaded for a space in silence, which was broken at last by the sound of the “Last Post.” It was a most impressive scene, and one which will live long in the memory of all who took part.