Location:
To the right of the main entrance of the Old Public Library
368 Lewisham High Street
SE13 6LQ
UKNIWM: 12277
OS Ref: TQ 380 750
Map: Memorials of Lewisham Map
Type:
Originally a Stone Column the remaining stones were set in a small garden area in 1998.
Description:
In 1919 a memorial consisting of an ornamented stone column on a Cornish granite slab and brickwork base and surmounted by a decorative cross was set up opposite the main gate of the Lewisham Military Hospital. It was between 12 and 15 feet in height.
When rededicated in 1998 a stone bearing an inscription and a granite tablet with names inscribed were placed within a small garden in front of the old Public Library and adjacent to the University Hospital, Lewisham.
Inscriptions:
On the Stone
Dedicated to the Brave Men who Died in This
Hospital and Laid Down their lives for the British Empire, 1914-1918
And to Dorothy Goodman and Helen Knibb, who died at their post of duty nursing the sick and wounded.
(Erected by the Medical and Nursing Staff Lewisham Military Hospital)
On the Granite Slab
Names
Also the Following Officers of the Institution
Pte George Whiffen(Died of Disease) in Service 12th May 1916
S. Sgt Henry C. Cartwright killed in action / in France 23rd March 1918.
(Pte) (C) Herbert Charles Guilleret killed in action / (in) France 6th September 1918.
Note on transcribing the inscriptions and names
The lettering is very worn and there are many difficulties in transcribing the names.
Also Leonard Thomas Laker
Wars Commemorated: First World War
Ceremonies:
The memorial was moved and rededicated on 4 August 1998 at 2pm, the service was conducted by the Hospital Chaplain, the Reverend Annie Shaw and wreaths were laid. A small black metal plaque with white lettering marks the event and notes: This plaque marks the rededication / on the 4th August 1998 / of the memorial stones to / the Staff of Lewisham Hospital and / to the many Servicemen who died here. / They gave their lives for their country / 1914 - 1919
Press:
Bromley Chronicle, 16 May, 1919
The Mercury August, 20 1998
Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust Press Release 30 July, 1998
Names: Click here for names on this memorial
[Dorothy Cranfield Goodman was a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment. She was born in Paddington in the summer of 1891 and died in Lewisham aged 24 in the spring of 1916.
Helen Knibb was born in Kettering in the autumn of 1885 and died in Lewisham aged 33 in the spring of 1919.]
A further memorial board was removed from the Boardroom of the Board of Guardians at the Infirmary in 1956 and has subsequently been lost. A framed picture is held at Lewisham Archives. Click here for details
Do you have more information on the people named on this memorial or the memorial? If so click here to contribute information.
by Local History and Archives Centre, Lewisham and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licen9ce