Monument

Mercantile Marine Memorial - WW2

Erection date: 5/11/1955

Inscription

{On the low wall overlooking the sunken garden:}
1939 - 1945
The twentyfour thousand of the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets whose names are honoured on the walls of this garden gave their lives for their country and have no grave but the sea.

View the 23,831 names commemorated on the monument

Site: Mercantile Marine Memorial - WW2 (1 memorial)

EC3, Trinity Square Garden

Designed as an extension to the WW1 Mercantile Marine memorial to the south.  A semi-circular sunken garden contains the names of almost 24,000 British seamen and 50 Australian seamen, all listed on the walls of the sunken garden.  Our website provides access to this list but (for capacity reasons) our app doesn't.  In the centre of the garden is a pool of bronze, engraved with a compass pointing north.  The memorial incorporates two statues, one an officer and one a seaman of the Merchant Service, and seven allegorical figures in relief, one shown in our photograph, possibly representative of the seven seas.  The garden was intended to provide a quiet space for mourners and, as pointed out by Ward-Jackson in his magnificent 'Public Sculpture of the City of London', is reminiscent of the "...east end of an imaginary ruined church, complete with radiating chapels, an image with powerful resonances in the bombed City...".

Attached to the wall of the steps is a sort of User's Guide to this memorial.  It gives a ground plan (see photo) and: "The names of the dead are to be found under the names of the ships in which they were serving.  The ships of the Merchant Navy are arranged in alphabetical order on panels 1 to 121 and panels 130 to 132.  Panel 122 bears the names of the men of the Lighthouse and Pilotage Services.  Vessels of the Fishing Fleets appear on panels 123 to 129.  If visitors have difficulty in finding a name, they are advised to consult the Registers containing lists in alphabetical order of all those commemorated on this memorial at the office of the Corporation of Trinity House in this Square {contact details}.     Respect this sanctuary which bears the names of true men lost at sea.  Keep it clean and shipshape."

We thank Jamie Davis for finding this link to the British Pathe news film of the unveiling.

 

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Mercantile Marine Memorial - WW2

Subjects commemorated i

23,831 names

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission have kindly supplied the list of names with some details on each.

View the list

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do vis...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Mercantile Marine Memorial - WW2

Created by i

Queen Elizabeth II

Born 17 Bruton Street, to the Duke and Duchess of York. For information on wh...

Read More

Edward Maufe

Architect. Born in Yorkshire as Edward Brantwood Muff into a family which, in...

Read More

Sir Charles Thomas Wheeler

Sculptor. Born Staffordshire. Early rheumatic fever made him unfit for active...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Church WW1 Memorial

Church WW1 Memorial

E8, Kingsland Road

Very sad - a stump of a memorial that is also weathered into illegibility.

1 subject commemorated
St Luke's West Norwood war memorial - WW1 & WW2

St Luke's West Norwood war memorial - WW1 & WW2

SE27, Norwood High Street, 13

The steps of the church are a popular meeting place for devotees of the brewing industry. It's rather ironic that just down the way is a ...

2 subjects commemorated
St Mary's Primrose Hill war memorial - first

St Mary's Primrose Hill war memorial - first

NW3, Primrose Hill Road, St Mary's Primrose Hill

The monument is very weather-worn but the two panels containing the names are crisp so we think they have been recently re-carved. WW2 su...

War dead, Civilian war dead | WW1, WW2, Other war
43 subjects commemorated
Streatham civilian war memorial

Streatham civilian war memorial

SW16, Streatham High Road, Garden of Rememberance, Streatham Common North

"Grief has no boundaries" is a quotation from a poem by Rohit Sapra. The information board defines the scope for this memorial: "people ...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
St Clement's Church

St Clement's Church

N7, Westbourne Road, 76

The names are listed alphabetically but only by first letter of surname, possibly to make the late additions, of which there are 9, less ...

War dead | WW1
160 subjects commemorated